Figure 5. Regulation of IL-6R shedding by meprins and ADAMs.
Soluble meprin α and membrane bound meprin β can generate sIL-6R. The cleavage however occurs at distinct sites when compared to ADAM10/17 mediated shedding. The sIL-6R can in all cases bind to IL-6 and gp130 on another cell and induce trans-signaling. Shedding of meprin β by ADAM10/17 might be a regulatory step to prevent generation of sIL-6R by membrane bound meprin β.