Impact of Siglecs on autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune diseases affect tens of millions of people just in the United States alone. Most of the available treatment options are aimed at reducing symptoms but do not lead to cures. Individuals affected with autoimmune diseases suffer from the imbalance between tolerogenic and immunogenic functions of their immune system. Often pathogenesis is mediated by autoreactive B and T cells that escape central tolerance and react against self-antigens attacking healthy tissues in the body.

In recent years Siglecs, sialic-acid-binding immunoglobulin (Ig)-like lectins, have gained attention as immune checkpoints for therapeutic interventions to dampen excessive immune responses and to restore immune tolerance in autoimmune diseases. Many Siglecs function as inhibitory receptors suppressing activation signals in various immune cells through binding to sialic acid ligands as signatures of self.

In this review, we highlight potential of Siglecs in suppressing immune responses causing autoimmune diseases. In particular, we cover the roles of CD22 and Siglec-G/Siglec-10 in regulating autoreactive B cell responses. We discuss several functions of Siglec-10 in the immune modulation of other immune cells, and the potential of therapeutic strategies for restoring immune tolerance by targeting Siglecs and expanding regulatory T cells. Finally, we briefly review efforts evaluating Siglec-based biomarkers to monitor autoimmune diseases.