Initial Characterization of TREM-like Transcript (TLT)-1: a Putative Inhibitory Receptor Within the TREM Cluster

The TREMs (triggering receptors expressed on myeloid cells) represent a family of 5 receptors clustered on murine chromosome 17. TREMs 1 and 2 affect various aspects of myeloid cell activation and development, including responsiveness to lipopolysaccharide and regulation of dendritic cell maturation, yet no inhibitory receptor has been demonstrated within this cluster. Here we characterize TLT-1 (TREM-like transcript-1), a putative inhibitory receptor within the TREM cluster that contains an extracellular V-set Ig domain, a proline-rich region, and an immune receptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) in its cytoplasmic tail. To our knowledge, TLT-1 is the first ITIM-containing receptor carrying a potential Src homology 3 domain ligand. TLT-1 transcripts are abundant in bone marrow cells, but not in lymphocytes, and phosphorylated TLT-1 associates with SHP-1, suggesting that it is indeed an inhibitory receptor. Based on these characteristics, it is likely that TLT-1 regulates the signaling of the TREM family receptors.