Mouse Siglec-F and human Siglec-8 are functionally convergent paralogs that are selectively expressed on eosinophils and recognize 6'-sulfo-sialyl Lewis X as a preferred glycan ligand.

Mouse sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin F (Siglec-F) is an eosinophil surface receptor, which contains an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) in its cytoplasmic domain, implicating it as a regulator of cell signaling as documented for other siglecs. Here, we show that the sialoside sequence 6'-sulfo-sLe(X) (Neu5Acalpha2-3[6-SO4] Galbeta1-4[Fucalpha1-3]GlcNAc) is a preferred ligand for Siglec-F. In glycan array analysis of 172 glycans, recombinant Siglec-F-Fc chimeras bound with the highest avidity to 6'-sulfo-sLe X. Secondary analysis showed that related structures, sialyl-Lewis X (sLe X) and 6-sulfo-sLe X containing 6-GlcNAc-SO4 showed much lower binding avidity, indicating significant contribution of 6-Gal-SO4 on Siglec-F binding to 6'-sulfo-sLe x. The lectin activity of Siglec-F on mouse eosinophils was "masked" by endogenous cis ligands and could be unmasked by treatment with sialidase. Unmasked Siglec-F mediated mouse eosinophil binding and adhesion to multivalent 6'-sulfo-sLe X structure, and these interactions were inhibited by anti-Siglec-F monoclonal antibody (mAb). Although there is no clear-cut human ortholog of Siglec-F, Siglec-8 is encoded by a paralogous gene that is expressed selectively by human eosinophils and has recently been found to recognize 6'-sulfo-sLe X. These observations suggest that mouse Siglec-F and human Siglec-8 have undergone functional convergence during evolution and implicate a role for the interaction of these siglecs with their preferred 6'-sulfo-sLe X ligand in eosinophil biology.