Department of Internal Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 135 via di Tor Vergata, I-00133 Rome, Italy.
We recently described a protective effect of the low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMPTP) BC genotype, associated with the highest total enzymatic activity, against high serum IgE levels both in the English and the Italian populations. Here we test the hypothesis of a role of LMPTP in the negative modulation of IL-4 signal transduction checking for genetic interaction between interleukin-4 receptor alpha chain (IL-4RA) genetic polymorphisms and LMPTP polymorphism in the predisposition to high total IgE levels in the English population. We find a significant interaction between LMPTP polymorphism and the intracellular Gln/Arg polymorphism in position 551 of IL-4RA. Our data support the hypothesis of a direct or indirect biochemical interaction between LMPTP and IL-4RA resulting in different modulation of IL-4 signal transduction among joint genotypes.