Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1990 Mar;10(3):1281–1286. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.3.1281

NF-kappa B as inducible transcriptional activator of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene.

R Schreck 1, P A Baeuerle 1
PMCID: PMC361021  PMID: 2406568

Abstract

The expression of the gene encoding the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is induced upon activation of T cells with phytohemagglutinin and active phorbolester and upon expression of tax1, a transactivating protein of the human T-cell leukemia virus type I. The same agents induce transcription from the interleukin-2 receptor alpha-chain and interleukin-2 genes, depending on promoter elements that bind the inducible transcription factor NF-kappa B (or an NF-kappa B-like factor). We therefore tested the possibility that the GM-CSF gene is also regulated by a cognate motif for the NF-kappa B transcription factor. A recent functional analysis by Miyatake et al. (S. Miyatake, M. Seiki, M. Yoshida, and K. Arai, Mol. Cell. Biol. 8:5581-5587, 1988) described a short promoter region in the GM-CSF gene that conferred strong inducibility by T-cell-activating signals and tax1, but no NF-kappa B-binding motifs were identified. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we showed binding of purified human NF-kappa B and of the NF-kappa B activated in Jurkat T cells to an oligonucleotide comprising the GM-CSF promoter element responsible for mediating responsiveness to T-cell-activating signals and tax1. As shown by a methylation interference analysis and oligonucleotide competition experiments, purified NF-kappa B binds at positions -82 to -91 (GGGAACTACC) of the GM-CSF promoter sequence with an affinity similar to that with which it binds to the biologically functional kappa B motif in the beta interferon promoter (GGGAAATTCC). Two kappa B-like motifs at positions -98 to -108 of the GM-CSF promoter were also recognized but with much lower affinities. Our data provide strong evidence that the expression of the GM-CSF gene following T-cell activation is controlled by binding of the NF-kappa B transcription factor to a high-affinity binding site in the GM-CSF promoter.

Full text

PDF
1282

Images in this article

1283Image
on p.1283
1284Image
on p.1284
1284Image
on p.1284

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baeuerle P. A., Baltimore D. A 65-kappaD subunit of active NF-kappaB is required for inhibition of NF-kappaB by I kappaB. Genes Dev. 1989 Nov;3(11):1689–1698. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.11.1689. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baeuerle P. A., Baltimore D. Activation of DNA-binding activity in an apparently cytoplasmic precursor of the NF-kappa B transcription factor. Cell. 1988 Apr 22;53(2):211–217. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90382-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Baeuerle P. A., Baltimore D. I kappa B: a specific inhibitor of the NF-kappa B transcription factor. Science. 1988 Oct 28;242(4878):540–546. doi: 10.1126/science.3140380. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Baeuerle P. A., Lenardo M., Pierce J. W., Baltimore D. Phorbol-ester-induced activation of the NF-kappa B transcription factor involves dissociation of an apparently cytoplasmic NF-kappa B/inhibitor complex. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1988;53(Pt 2):789–798. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1988.053.01.089. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ballard D. W., Böhnlein E., Lowenthal J. W., Wano Y., Franza B. R., Greene W. C. HTLV-I tax induces cellular proteins that activate the kappa B element in the IL-2 receptor alpha gene. Science. 1988 Sep 23;241(4873):1652–1655. doi: 10.1126/science.241.4873.1652. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Broudy V. C., Kaushansky K., Harlan J. M., Adamson J. W. Interleukin 1 stimulates human endothelial cells to produce granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. J Immunol. 1987 Jul 15;139(2):464–468. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Böhnlein E., Lowenthal J. W., Siekevitz M., Ballard D. W., Franza B. R., Greene W. C. The same inducible nuclear proteins regulates mitogen activation of both the interleukin-2 receptor-alpha gene and type 1 HIV. Cell. 1988 Jun 3;53(5):827–836. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90099-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chan J. Y., Slamon D. J., Nimer S. D., Golde D. W., Gasson J. C. Regulation of expression of human granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Nov;83(22):8669–8673. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.22.8669. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cross S. L., Halden N. F., Lenardo M. J., Leonard W. J. Functionally distinct NF-kappa B binding sites in the immunoglobulin kappa and IL-2 receptor alpha chain genes. Science. 1989 Apr 28;244(4903):466–469. doi: 10.1126/science.2497520. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dignam J. D., Lebovitz R. M., Roeder R. G. Accurate transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in a soluble extract from isolated mammalian nuclei. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Mar 11;11(5):1475–1489. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.5.1475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Duh E. J., Maury W. J., Folks T. M., Fauci A. S., Rabson A. B. Tumor necrosis factor alpha activates human immunodeficiency virus type 1 through induction of nuclear factor binding to the NF-kappa B sites in the long terminal repeat. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Aug;86(15):5974–5978. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.15.5974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Greene W. C., Böhnlein E., Ballard D. W. HIV-1, HTLV-1 and normal T-cell growth: transcriptional strategies and surprises. Immunol Today. 1989 Aug;10(8):272–278. doi: 10.1016/0167-5699(89)90141-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Griffin G. E., Leung K., Folks T. M., Kunkel S., Nabel G. J. Activation of HIV gene expression during monocyte differentiation by induction of NF-kappa B. Nature. 1989 May 4;339(6219):70–73. doi: 10.1038/339070a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hoyos B., Ballard D. W., Böhnlein E., Siekevitz M., Greene W. C. Kappa B-specific DNA binding proteins: role in the regulation of human interleukin-2 gene expression. Science. 1989 Apr 28;244(4903):457–460. doi: 10.1126/science.2497518. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kawakami K., Scheidereit C., Roeder R. G. Identification and purification of a human immunoglobulin-enhancer-binding protein (NF-kappa B) that activates transcription from a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 promoter in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Jul;85(13):4700–4704. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.13.4700. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lenardo M. J., Baltimore D. NF-kappa B: a pleiotropic mediator of inducible and tissue-specific gene control. Cell. 1989 Jul 28;58(2):227–229. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90833-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lenardo M. J., Fan C. M., Maniatis T., Baltimore D. The involvement of NF-kappa B in beta-interferon gene regulation reveals its role as widely inducible mediator of signal transduction. Cell. 1989 Apr 21;57(2):287–294. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90966-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Leung K., Nabel G. J. HTLV-1 transactivator induces interleukin-2 receptor expression through an NF-kappa B-like factor. Nature. 1988 Jun 23;333(6175):776–778. doi: 10.1038/333776a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Lowenthal J. W., Ballard D. W., Böhnlein E., Greene W. C. Tumor necrosis factor alpha induces proteins that bind specifically to kappa B-like enhancer elements and regulate interleukin 2 receptor alpha-chain gene expression in primary human T lymphocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Apr;86(7):2331–2335. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.7.2331. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Miyatake S., Seiki M., Malefijt R. D., Heike T., Fujisawa J., Takebe Y., Nishida J., Shlomai J., Yokota T., Yoshida M. Activation of T cell-derived lymphokine genes in T cells and fibroblasts: effects of human T cell leukemia virus type I p40x protein and bovine papilloma virus encoded E2 protein. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Jul 25;16(14A):6547–6566. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.14.6547. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Miyatake S., Seiki M., Yoshida M., Arai K. T-cell activation signals and human T-cell leukemia virus type I-encoded p40x protein activate the mouse granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene through a common DNA element. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Dec;8(12):5581–5587. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.12.5581. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Munker R., Gasson J., Ogawa M., Koeffler H. P. Recombinant human TNF induces production of granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor. Nature. 1986 Sep 4;323(6083):79–82. doi: 10.1038/323079a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Nabel G., Baltimore D. An inducible transcription factor activates expression of human immunodeficiency virus in T cells. Nature. 1987 Apr 16;326(6114):711–713. doi: 10.1038/326711a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Nimer S. D., Morita E. A., Martis M. J., Wachsman W., Gasson J. C. Characterization of the human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor promoter region by genetic analysis: correlation with DNase I footprinting. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 May;8(5):1979–1984. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.5.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Osborn L., Kunkel S., Nabel G. J. Tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 1 stimulate the human immunodeficiency virus enhancer by activation of the nuclear factor kappa B. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Apr;86(7):2336–2340. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.7.2336. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Sen R., Baltimore D. Multiple nuclear factors interact with the immunoglobulin enhancer sequences. Cell. 1986 Aug 29;46(5):705–716. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90346-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Shannon M. F., Gamble J. R., Vadas M. A. Nuclear proteins interacting with the promoter region of the human granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Feb;85(3):674–678. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.3.674. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Taniguchi T. Regulation of cytokine gene expression. Annu Rev Immunol. 1988;6:439–464. doi: 10.1146/annurev.iy.06.040188.002255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Visvanathan K. V., Goodbourn S. Double-stranded RNA activates binding of NF-kappa B to an inducible element in the human beta-interferon promoter. EMBO J. 1989 Apr;8(4):1129–1138. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb03483.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES