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Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2004, p. 6488-6500, Vol. 24, No. 14
0270-7306/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.14.6488-6500.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
B Kinase Complex and NF-
B Act as Master Regulators of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Gene Expression and Control Subordinate Activation of AP-1
and Claus Scheidereit1
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, D-13122 Berlin,1 Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum Berlin, 10117 Berlin,Germany2
Received 4 March 2004/ Accepted 21 April 2004
| ABSTRACT |
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B kinase (IKK)/NF-
B signaling for
immediate-early gene induction after LPS engagement in precursor B
cells. IKK/NF-
B signaling controls a large panel of
gene products associated with signaling and transcriptional activation
and repression. Intriguingly, the induction of AP-1 activity by LPS in
precursor B cells and primary dendritic cells fully depends on the
IKK/NF-
B pathway, which promotes expression of several AP-1
family members, including JunB, JunD, and B-ATF. In pre-B cells, AP-1
augments induction of a subset of primary NF-
B targets, as
shown for chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) and immunoglobulin
light chain. Thus, our data illustrate that NF-
B orchestrates
immediate-early effects of LPS signaling and controls secondary AP-1
activation to mount an appropriate biological
response. | INTRODUCTION |
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B plays a pivotal role in
the regulation of diverse cellular processes such as inflammation,
immune response, differentiation, proliferation, and
apoptosis. The mammalian NF-
B family consists of five members,
p50, p52, p65/RelA, c-Rel, and RelB, which are tightly controlled by a
family of inhibitory molecules (I
Bs) comprising
I
B
, I
Bß, I
B
, and
the precursor molecules for p50 and p52, p105 and p100, respectively.
I
B proteins prevent nuclear entry and DNA binding of
NF-
B. NF-
B activation is initiated through cytokine
signaling, innate or adaptive immune responses, morphological signals,
or environmental stress
(14,
18,
28). All signaling
pathways known to date converge at the I
B kinase (IKK) complex
that consists of two catalytic subunits (IKK
and IKKß)
and one regulatory subunit (IKK
/NEMO). The
"canonical" IKKß- and IKK
-dependent
signaling pathway involves stimulus-dependent phosphorylation of the
I
B molecule I
B
, I
Bß,
I
B
, or p105 at conserved serine residues.
Phosphorylation triggers the recognition and polyubiquitination of
I
Bs by SCFßTrCP ubiquitin ligases and their
subsequent destruction by the 26S proteasome. Released NF-
B
enters the nucleus, where it activates transcription of target genes
(14,
22). Aside from this
canonical I
B degradation pathway, a "novel"
pathway, which is activated by a subset of NF-
B stimuli, e.g.,
B-cell activating factor (BAFF), lymphotoxin ß (LTß),
CD40 ligand, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and enhances the processing
of p100 and the generation of p52 containing DNA binding complexes, has
been described (6,
7,
10,
23,
36,
50). The p100 processing
pathway requires NF-
B-inducing kinase, as shown for
BAFF, LTß, CD40, and IKK
, as demonstrated
for LTß. Furthermore, a requirement for ongoing protein
synthesis was revealed for LTß, CD40, and LPS.
The
biological responses to IKK and NF-
B signaling largely depend
on transcriptional up-regulation of a network of direct target genes
that contain NF-
B consensus sites in their promoter or
enhancer regions. About 150 target genes have been identified, mainly
by studies with transfected promoters and by in vitro DNA binding
assays (reviewed in reference
40). The gene expression
profiles in response to well-established NF-
B stimuli, such as
tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-
), interleukin-1ß
(IL-1ß), CD40 ligand, and LPS, have been determined by
microarray analyses (8,
31,
35,
51-53).
Yet many stimuli known to trigger NF-
B activation
also induce other signaling pathways, especially mitogen-activated
protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, which ultimately lead to
phosphorylation and enhanced transcriptional activity of transcription
factors, e.g., c-Jun, JunB, JunD, ATF-2, and Elk-1/TCF
(25). Previous reports
have analyzed the contribution of IKK components and NF-
B
activation for global gene expression by LPS, IL-1ß, or
TNF-
in pre-B cells and embryonal fibroblasts
(27,
29) and by CD40 ligand in
B cells (8). However,
these microarray studies did not allow a differentiation between direct
and indirect effects of NF-
B on target gene expression. By
using gene profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation, a
network of direct NF-
B target genes has been identified in
Hodgkin's disease-derived tumor cells, which indicated a central
role of NF-
B in the pathogenesis of Hodgkin's lymphoma
(19).
We have
investigated the requirement of the IKK complex and NF-
B for
gene expression by performing gene profiling in murine pre-B-cell lines
after short-term LPS stimulation. We have taken advantage of the
well-characterized 70Z/3 cell system, where the availability of an
IKK-deficient mutant (1.3E2) and its revertant and efficient inhibition
of "classical" NF-
B by
I
B
N allows for an investigation of
differential gene induction by LPS. About 70 genes were reproducibly
up-regulated, the vast majority of which required both a functional IKK
complex and NF-
B for full gene induction, indicating that the
classical I
B degradation pathway is the central mediator of
gene induction in the innate immune response. In addition, our data
suggest that the IKK complex can mediate induction of a few genes by an
alternative, at least partially NF-
B-independent, pathway.
Primary IKK/NF-
B-triggered gene induction enhances the
expression of a network of signaling components as well as positive and
negative transcriptional regulators. LPS-induced AP-1 activity in 70Z/3
pre-B and primary human dendritic cells fully depends on
IKK/NF-
B signaling. Subordinately activated AP-1 (JunD and
JunB) complexes cooperate with NF-
B and are required for
sustained, high-level chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) and immunoglobulin
(Ig
) light chain expression and production of
surface IgM. Our data indicate that the IKK/NF-
B cascade plays
a master role in the immediate-early gene response to LPS and that it
mounts secondary transcriptional responses involving AP-1 and a network
of other regulators.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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/protein kinase C
(PKC
)
have been described previously
(24). Retroviral
infection of 70Z/3 with pFBneoI
B
N,
pLXSNA-Fos, or empty vector (pFBneo or pLXSN) and preparation of human
primary dendritic cells were done as described previously
(36). Except when stated
otherwise, cells were treated with 10 µg of LPS (Sigma)/ml, 200
ng of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) (Sigma)/ml, 20 µg of
cycloheximide (CHX) (Calbiochem)/ml, or 10 ng of gamma interferon
(IFN-
) (Endogen)/ml. For UV light irradiation, cells were
exposed to 120 J/m2 of UV light at 254 nm (UV-C) in a
Stratagene UV cross-linker.
Plasmids and antibodies.
Flag-I
B
N
was cloned into pFBneo (Stratagene) or pcDNA3 (Invitrogen), and
Flag-A-Fos was cloned into pLXSN (Clontech). Antibodies used were as
follows: anti-Flag M5 (Sigma), anti-JunD (sc-74), anti-cFos (sc-52; all
from Santa Cruz), anti-JunB
(33), anti-p65 (both from
Biomol), and anti-mouse IgM (R6-60.2; both from
Pharmingen).
DNA microarray analysis.
Total RNA was
prepared from 70Z/3 and 1.3E2 cells, clones or pools of 70Z/3 cells
infected with control virus (CV) (pFBneo; Stratagene), or 70Z/3 cells
infected with I
B
N virus (
NV)
(pFBneoI
B
N) left untreated or treated with
LPS (90 min) by using an RNeasy kit (QIAGEN). Samples were prepared
from 7.5 µg of total RNA according to manufacturer's
instructions. Murine Genome U74Av2 GeneChip (Affymetrix)
containing about 12,500 unique probe sets for genes and expressed
sequence tags was hybridized with biotinylated cRNA for 16 h
at 45°C, washed, and stained according to the manual. cRNA
labeling and quality was confirmed by using GeneChip Test3 array
(Affymetrix). DNA chips were scanned with a GeneChip scanner, and
microarray image files were processed with Affymetrix Microarray Suite
5. For comparison, all chip files were scaled to a uniform intensity
value of 1,000 U. Comparative analyses were done as
follows. The values of LPS-stimulated 70Z/3, 1.3E2, 70Z/3CV, or
70Z/3
NV cells were taken as the experimental file and compared
to the corresponding unstimulated cells as the baseline file. Probe
sets that fit the following criteria were considered increased in 70Z/3
cells after 90 min of LPS stimulation (Table
1): the change call reflecting the variations of mRNA levels in the samples
as calculated by the software was increased in both independent
experiments, a twofold difference or more was obtained in at least one
experiment, a presence call was given after LPS
stimulation, and the signal value after LPS induction was 500 or more.
Independent verifications by Northern blotting of genes that were
included or excluded due to these criteria were performed (Fig.
1 and data not shown) to confirm that a
reproducible increase was obtained even for genes that had
increase calls of around twofold. For the comparison of 70Z/3CV and
70Z/3
NV cells, only probe sets that had an increase call in
LPS-stimulated 70Z/3CV cells were
chosen.
|
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Flow cytometry. Surface IgM expression was analyzed with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled anti-mouse IgM antibody. Cytometric analysis was done with a FACSCalibur cytometer (Becton Dickinson).
| RESULTS |
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-deficient 1.3E2 cells were left untreated or were
stimulated with LPS for 90 min. This relatively short stimulation time
was chosen to restrict the analysis to primary LPS/IKK-responsive
genes. Total RNA was prepared and hybridized to high-density DNA
microarrays comprising approximately 12,500 genes and expressed
sequence tags. Table 1
shows all genes that had an increased call after LPS stimulation of
70Z/3 cells in two independent experiments and that were up-regulated
by twofold or more in at least one experiment. Untreated 70Z/3 served
as a baseline. The results were compared to 1.3E2 cells treated
accordingly.
LPS stimulation for 90 min in 70Z/3 cells
reproducibly up-regulated approximately 70 genes, which were grouped
according to their assigned cellular functions (Table
1). Expression of none of
these LPS response genes was increased in IKK
-negative 1.3E2
cells to the same extent, and only three genes, namely, MIP-1
,
MKP-7, and MAIL, were reproducibly induced in 1.3E2 cells (Table
1 and Fig.
1), indicating that an
IKK
-independent pathway(s) allows at least partial induction
of these genes after LPS treatment. Moreover, we did not observe an
increase in the expression of any gene after LPS treatment in 1.3E2
cells that was not increased in 70Z/3 cells (Table
1 and data not shown).
These data indicate that the IKK complex is the central mediator for
LPS-stimulated gene expression. In contrast, the baseline signal for
most LPS-inducible genes in 70Z/3 cells was not significantly altered
in 1.3E2 cells (data not shown), suggesting that the function of the
IKK pathway is largely restricted to inducible gene activation rather
than to basal expression. Furthermore, the expression of only very few
genes decreased in 70Z/3 cells after 90 min of LPS treatment (data not
shown), emphasizing that the IKK signaling pathway predominantly causes
gene induction as a primary response.
A number of LPS response
genes have been described previously as IKK/NF-
B-regulated
genes (Table 1), but more
then 50% of the genes were putative novel
IKK/NF-
B-regulated genes (Table
1). We investigated the
mRNA up-regulation for most of these putative
IKK/NF-
B target genes (Table
1 and Fig.
1). Northern blotting was
performed with mRNA from 70Z/3 and 1.3E2 cells and from a
1.3E2 clone expressing IKK
and PKC
to rescue LPS- and
PMA-mediated NF-
B activation
(24) (Fig.
1). Induction of nearly
all LPS target genes was verified, indicating that the microarray data
are highly reliable. Furthermore, most genes were not induced in 1.3E2
cells while induction was restored in cells complemented with
IKK
and PKC
, proving that the induction of these
genes by LPS requires intact IKK signaling. As expected from the
microarray data (Table 1),
MIP-1
and MAIL were partially induced in 1.3E2 cells, while
induction of MKP-7 was completely independent of
IKK
.
LPS stimulation was also performed in the presence
of the translation inhibitor CHX to discriminate between a primary
immediate-early gene induction and secondary gene expression. As
expected, CHX either did not affect or even enhanced the expression of
most LPS target genes, underscoring that these genes actually
constitute an immediate-early transcriptional response and do not
require induced synthesis of other factors. For many genes, CHX
treatment alone caused a slight enhancement of mRNA
expression, and CHX-mediated up-regulation was seen in 1.3E2 cells as
well (e.g., PIM1, I
B
, BTG2, and NUR77), perhaps due
to a depletion of I
Bs or other inhibitors by constitutive
turnover. In contrast, up-regulation of MIP-1
was
significantly inhibited by CHX treatment, indicating that either the
blocked synthesis of labile costimulatory factors or a secondary
NF-
B-dependent event might be required for full gene
induction.
We also determined the mRNA amounts induced
by PMA as a further IKK-activating agent. PMA directly activates PKC
and mimics B-cell receptor signaling in 70Z/3 pre-B cells
(24). For most genes, LPS
was a stronger stimulus than PMA, which could be explained by the
weaker and more transient NF-
B activation by PMA compared to
the sustained NF-
B activation in response to LPS
(36). Alternatively, LPS,
but not PKC, activation might trigger costimulatory pathways that are
required for full NF-
B-driven transcriptional activation. Only
two genes, NAB2 and Stra13, were activated more strongly by PMA.
Remarkably, PMA induced both genes in 1.3E2 cells as well, although LPS
induction required the presence of IKK
. These data indicate
that in pre-B cells, PMA induces expression of a subset of genes by
distinct pathways, independent of the IKK
complex.
NF-
B activation is required for the induction of most LPS response genes.
To determine the contribution of
NF-
B for LPS/IKK-mediated gene expression, we performed a
genechip analysis using 70Z/3 cells retrovirally infected either with a
CV or with an I
B
superrepressor-expressing virus
(I
B
NV) to inhibit NF-
B activation.
An I
B
N-expressing clone with strong
expression of the transgene was used for the microarray analysis. In
all I
B
N-expressing 70Z/3 cells, LPS-induced
NF-
B activation and postinductive I
B
resynthesis were efficiently inhibited (see Fig.
6A and data not shown).
Cells were left untreated or stimulated for 90 min with LPS before RNA
extraction. Microarray analysis was performed, and the results are
shown in Fig.
2.
|
|
B
N-expressing cells, even though the block
of induction of many target genes was less pronounced due to the
slightly weaker expression of the superrepressor (data not shown).
Expression of only 44 genes was increased in 70Z/3CV cells compared to
the initial screen with 68 induced genes, suggesting that viral
infection might render the cells less susceptible to LPS. Most genes
whose expression was stimulated in 70Z/3 cells showed a considerable
reduction in LPS-mediated gene activation upon
I
B
N expression (Fig.
2). Nevertheless,
some genes, namely, MIP-1
, PAC1, MKP-7, TIS11, NAB2, CHOP10,
and TIS7, were hardly repressed in
I
B
N-expressing cells, suggesting that their
induction was partially or completely independent of
NF-
B. Therefore, the induction of some of these genes was
further analyzed by Northern blotting in different
I
B
N-expressing 70Z/3 cell lots (Fig.
3). Whereas the induction of the bona fide IKK/NF-
B targets
I
B
and PIM1 was strongly impaired upon NF-
B
inhibition, MKP-7, MIP-1
, CHOP10, and PAC1 were completely
unaffected.
|
B for primary LPS-mediated gene
activation. Since induction of a minority of IKK
-dependent
genes was not influenced by NF-
B inhibition, IKK
appears to directly or indirectly control the activity of other
transcription factors. Interestingly, genes whose induced
expression was partially (MIP1-
) or completely (MKP-7)
independent of IKK
(compare Table
1 and Fig.
1) were also found in the
group of genes that was insensitive to NF-
B inhibition. Thus,
full LPS-mediated induction of these genes may require autonomous,
IKK/NF-
B-independent signaling
pathways.
Primary IKK/NF-
B activation is required for LPS-induced AP-1 activity in pre-B cells and dendritic cells.
Besides the
well-established autoregulation of NF-
B/I
B family
members, LPS-triggered IKK signaling induced a large panel of further
transcriptional activators (e.g., Oct2 and B-Myb) or repressors (e.g.,
MPC2, NAB2, Stra13, CHOP10, and TIS7). Furthermore, LPS strongly
enhanced the expression of JunB and B-ATF, two potential AP-1 complex
components (Table 1). We
asked whether IKK/NF-
B signaling is necessary for LPS-mediated
AP-1 activation in 70Z/3 pre-B cells (Fig.
4A). AP-1 DNA binding was induced by LPS, and activation was completely
blocked in IKK
-deficient 1.3E2 cells and in 70Z/3 cells
infected with I
B
N retrovirus. Similarly,
LPS-induced AP-1 activity in human primary dendritic cells was
inhibited upon I
B
N expression
(Fig. 4B). These
observations provide the first evidence that NF-
B regulates an
AP-1 activity in LPS-initiated responses.
|
B-mediated gene expression, we considered the
expression patterns for all Jun/Fos/ATF/Maf family members represented
on the microarray (Table
2). Besides JunB and B-ATF, expression levels of JunD and ATF-4 had an
increase call after 90 min of LPS stimulation, which was below the
threshold to be included in Table
1. In addition, MafF
expression was enhanced, and detection call changed from absent to
present even though, due to the low signal values, no increase call
could be obtained. We confirmed the induction of JunB, JunD, B-ATF, and
MafF by Northern blotting (Fig.
5A). In contrast, c-Jun and all Fos/Fra family members, components of the
classical mitogen-induced AP-1 heterodimer, were absent in pre-B cells
before and after induction (Table
2 and Fig.
5A). c-Jun, c-Fos, and
FosB were also not induced after 4 h of LPS stimulation (data
not shown). Other ATFs were expressed but displayed no change after
stimulation (e.g., ATF-1 and ATF-2). These data suggest that the
LPS-initiated IKK/NF-
B pathway could control AP-1 activity by
up-regulation of a subset of AP-1 family members.
|
|
B rapidly, the appearance of an AP-1 DNA binding
complex was delayed and detectable at 4 h of LPS or PMA
stimulation and strongest after 8 h of LPS incubation
(complex C2) (Fig. 5B).
The kinetics and intensity of AP-1 activation correlated with the
up-regulation of JunB and JunD proteins (Fig.
5B). In contrast, UV
light-induced NF-
B and AP-1 DNA binding activities peaked
after 3 h, and this AP-1 complex displayed a slower migration
(complex C1) (Fig. 5C).
Supershift analysis (Fig.
5D) revealed that the
UV-induced C1 complex, but not the LPS-induced C2 complex, contained
c-Fos. While both complexes were reacting with JunB antibody, the LPS
complex was strongly inhibited and supershifted by JunD antibody,
demonstrating that UV light and LPS induce distinct AP-1 complexes.
Moreover, the formation of the LPS-induced AP-1 complex was completely
inhibited by CHX, while the induction of the C1 AP-1 complex by UV
light was largely independent of protein de novo synthesis (Fig.
4).
To investigate
the requirements for LPS-mediated AP-1 activation and to determine the
functional consequences for AP-1 downstream of NF-
B, we
infected 70Z/3 cells with the AP-1 inhibitor A-Fos, which specifically
forms inactive heterodimers with Jun partners
(39). We performed a
kinetic analysis of NF-
B and AP-1 activation as well as
induction of JunB and JunD protein amounts in 70Z/3 cells expressing
either A-Fos or I
B
N and in IKK
defective 1.3E2 cells (Fig.
6A). LPS-induced up-regulation of JunB and JunD and of AP-1 DNA binding
activity was completely lost in IKK
-deficient 1.3E2 cells and
in 70Z/3 cells infected with I
B
N retrovirus
but not in cells infected with CV (Fig.
6A). The AP-1 inhibitor
A-Fos blocked AP-1, but not NF-
B, activity. However, A-Fos did
not abolish induction of the JunB and JunD proteins by LPS (Fig.
6A). Likewise, LPS
induction of JunB, JunD, or B-ATF mRNAs was reduced in the
absence of IKK
or when I
B
N was
expressed, but not upon A-Fos expression (Fig.
6B). Interestingly,
mRNA levels for JunD were initially increased in an
NF-
B-independent manner, but the increase in
I
B
N-expressing cells was much more transient
than mock- or A-Fos-infected cells. Expression of c-Jun N-terminal
kinase 1 (JNK1) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2
(ERK1/2), potential upstream regulators of AP-1, was not changed in
response to LPS, even though ERK levels were slightly reduced in A-Fos
virus-infected cells. Using phosphorylation-specificantibodies, we were not able to detect phosphorylated JNK or ERK after
prolonged exposure to LPS (data not shown), indicating that delayed
AP-1 activity does not correlate with the activation of MAPK
signaling.
In contrast to the LPS-induced AP-1 complexes, the
induction of AP-1 activity by UV light was blocked by A-Fos, but it was
insensitive to NF-
B inhibition by
I
B
N and not affected by the lack of
IKK
in 1.3E2 cells (compare Fig.
6C to A, top panels). We
conclude from these experiments that UV light induces the formation of
Fos/Jun containing C1-type AP-1 complexes by a classical pathway likely
involving MAPK signaling, while induction of C2-type AP-1 by LPS
requires IKK- and NF-
B-dependent induction of JunD and JunB
and possibly of other AP-1 family
members.
The LPS-IKK/NF-
B cascade utilizes the secondary AP-1 response for full induction of CCR7 and expression of surface IgM.
The IKK/NF-
B-dependent delayed
AP-1 activation suggests that both transcription factors might
cooperate in a second phase of gene induction in pre-B cells. For a
target gene analysis, we selected the CCR7 gene (Table
1), whose LPS induction in
70Z/3 cells required de novo protein synthesis
(19) to assess the
functional requirement for IKK/NF-
B-dependent activation of
AP-1. Initial LPS induction of CCR7 mRNA levels was seen at
2 h but was strongly enhanced thereafter (Fig.
7A). While AP-1 inhibition by A-Fos did not affect the immediate-early
induction of CCR7, it completely inhibited the secondary increase of
CCR7 mRNA after 4 and 8 h. Similarly, AP-1
inhibition diminished a second phase of induction of the Ig
light chain gene (Fig.
7A), which resulted in a
drastic reduction of Ig light chain protein expression (Fig.
7B). In contrast, the
induction of two other genes, CD40 and I
B
, whose
expression peaked at early times of stimulation and decreased
thereafter, was not affected by A-Fos (Fig.
7A). Likewise,
LPS-induced Oct-2 expression and DNA binding activity
remained largely unaffected upon AP-1 inhibition (Fig.
7B). However, as expected,
expression of the NF-
B superrepressor I
B
N
completely eliminated LPS responsiveness of CCR7, Ig
light
chain, CD40, I
B
, and Oct-2 (Fig.
7A and B).
|
light chain locus and the concomitant
expression of surface IgM (sIgM)
(49). In line with the
IKK/NF-
B dependency of Ig
light chain mRNA
induction by LPS, I
B
N strongly impaired
LPS-stimulated sIgM expression (Fig.
7C). Concurrent with the
effects on Ig
light chain mRNA induction, A-Fos
expression strongly reduced the amount of LPS-induced sIgM as well.
Interestingly, sIgM induction by IFN-
was almost completely
inhibited by A-Fos but not by
I
B
N, underscoring the differential
downstream requirements of LPS and IFN-
to induce Ig
transcription (5). The
observations that IFN-
induces AP-1
(38) together with our
findings indicate an essential role for AP-1 in IFN-
signaling.
Taken together, our results demonstrate that in LPS
signaling, IKK/NF-
B-induced AP-1 complexes are required to
synergize with NF-
B in a secondary transcriptional response
program.
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
B signaling in global LPS induced gene expression in pre-B cells.
The immediate-early induction of gene
expression by LPS is known to critically depend on Toll-like
receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated parallel activation of MAPK and IKK
signaling pathways. Whereas MAPK signaling involves
phosphorylation of ERKs, JNKs, and p38 members and the subsequent
activation of transcription factor Elk1, AP-1, SRF, or CREB, activation
of IKK induces nuclear translocation and DNA binding of NF-
B
(17). Given the range of
activated signaling cascades, it could be expected that LPS-induced
gene profiles display a heterogeneity that reflects the activation of a
diverse spectrum of transcription factors. By use of gene chip
analysis, we now provide evidence that the IKK complex is the central
player for LPS-induced gene expression in 70Z/3 pre-B cells. With a few
exceptions, no gene induction was seen upon LPS stimulation of
IKK-defective 1.3E2 cells, but induction could be rescued by
reintroduction of IKK
. Thus, the LPS-initiated innate immune
response in pre-B cells essentially depends on the IKK complex.
However, MAPK pathways, although not sufficient to stimulate gene
expression in the absence of IKK/NF-
B signaling, may have
accessory functions. For instance, in dendritic cells, p38 activity is
required for LPS-induced recruitment of NF-
B/p65 to a subset
of target promoters (IL-6, IL-12p40, and MCP-1)
(41). Since LPS activates
none of these p38-dependent genes in 70Z/3 cells, we speculate that the
relatively weak LPS-triggered p38 activity (data not shown) is below
the threshold to promote histone H3 phosphorylation and subsequent
NF-
B recruitment to these promoters
(41).
Obviously,
the classical IKK
/NF-
B signaling cassette induces
expression of the vast majority of LPS response genes (Fig.
8). In contrast, the induction of very few genes is partially
(MIP-1
or MAIL) or completely (MKP-7) independent
of IKK (Fig. 1),
indicating that other LPS-regulated factors contribute to various
extents in target gene induction. LPS induction of a third group of
genes, namely, PAC1, CHOP10, TIS11, NAB2, and TIS7, was not
significantly inhibited by I
B
N but was
completely lost in 1.3E2 cells, suggesting the interesting possibility
that the IKK complex is involved in the regulation of other
transcription factors. Here, it cannot be completely excluded that a
weak, residual NF-
B activity in
I
B
N-expressing cells may be sufficient for
the activation of this set of genes. In line with the complete lack of
I
B
N inhibition of CHOP10 and PAC1, the
regulatory regions of both genes reveal no apparent NF-
B sites
(16,
37; data not shown). It
remains an open question which transcription factors other than
NF-
B are activated by IKK
-containing complexes and
whether the catalytic subunits of the IKK complex are also required for
the LPS induction of these genes. In contrast, the lack of
I
B
N-mediated repression of the MIP1
gene, which contains NF-
B sites in its promoter region to
which p65 is recruited upon LPS stimulation
(40,
41), is most likely
explained by an alternative IKK/NF-
B-independent pathway that
also operates in 1.3E2 cells (Fig.
1).
|
B target genes orchestrate a secondary response program: complete control of AP-1 activity by NF-
B.
Activation of NF-
B induces the
expression of a set of transcriptional repressors. TIS7 is a
corepressor that engages Sin3B, histone deacetylase, and NCoR to
repress transcription
(47). Nab2 represses
Egr-1 and Krox20 (44).
The polycomb protein Mpc2/CBX4 is a repressor for a number of genes
(1). IRF-8/ICSBP has
repressor and activator functions
(26). IRF-8 functions
together with IRF-4 as a genetic switch to down-regulate surrogate
light chain expression and to induce conventional light
chain transcription and coordinate the transition from pre-B cell to B
cell (30). Stra13 and
CHOP10 are repressors for E-box-binding basic
helix-loop-helix members and for C/EBPs, respectively
(3,
42). Thus, it appears
that the LPS pathway reprograms the cellular gene expression
repertoire and switches off genes whose induction is
inappropriate under infection and stress conditions.
Perhaps the
most provocative result is that we could show that LPS induction of
AP-1 in pre-B cells and primary dendritic cells is entirely mediated by
the IKK/NF-
B pathway. LPS-induced AP-1 activation was delayed
compared to that of NF-
B and contained JunD and JunB as main
components, and induction required protein de novo synthesis. Whereas
the JunB gene contains NF-
B sites
(13) and was identified
as a primary IKK/NF-
B target gene, immediate-early induction
of JunD mRNA was weaker and was apparently independent of
NF-
B activation. Nevertheless, full up-regulation of JunD
mRNA at later time points or of JunD protein amounts required
IKK/NF-
B signaling (Fig.
6). The JunD promoter
lacks bona fide NF-
B sites but contains a functional octamer
motif (9), and the gene
can be activated by CHOP10
(46), suggesting that IKK
signaling may promote JunD expression indirectly via induction of
CHOP10 and/or Oct-2 (Table
1). Induction of JunD was
not inhibited by A-Fos, excluding an involvement of an autoregulatory
process. Other mechanisms, e.g., regulation of mRNA stability,
might also play a role. Besides JunB and JunD, other inducible factors,
like B-ATF or MafF, or constitutively expressed AP-1 family members,
e.g., ATF-1 or ATF-2, could be components of the AP-1 complex.
We
demonstrated that IKK/NF-
B-induced AP-1 activity is needed to
evoke, in cooperation with NF-
B, a secondary strong
transcriptional response, as shown for the LPS induction of CCR7 and
Ig
light chain. It can be envisioned that activation of
classical NF-
B p50/p65 is sufficient for transient gene
induction, as in the case of CD40 and I
B
, but that
subordinate transcription factors like AP-1, NF-
B p52/RelB, or
Oct-2 are required to maintain high expression levels of persistently
activated genes, e.g., CCR7 and Ig
light chain.
TLRs
activate proximal events that culminate in the activation of
IKK/NF-
B as well as MAPKs ERK, p38, and JNK
(2). Whereas the MAPKs JNK
and ERK are only poorly activated by LPS in 70Z/3 pre-B cells, p38 was
induced (24; data not
shown). An intriguing aspect is the apparent disengagement of primary
TLR4-mediated JNK signaling from secondary activation of functional
AP-1. Moreover, LPS activates the expression of a panel of proteins
which inhibit MAPK signaling. The MAPK phosphatase PAC-1 negatively
interferes with MAPK activation in general
(48), while Pea-15/Mat1
specifically inhibits ERK
(12), and
MYD118/GADD45ß and MKP-7 are negative regulators of JNK
(11,
32,
34). Furthermore, p21 can
suppress JNK activity
(20). This negative cross
talk by IKK/NF-
B targets may be important primarily in
limiting the duration of MAPK induction by LPS. However, the cause for
the lack of any NF-
B-independent, initial AP-1 activation by
LPS in pre-B and dendritic cells is not yet clear. Similar to
LPS-stimulated AP-1 in pre-B cells, constitutive AP-1 activity in
Hodgkin cells occurs in the absence of MAPK signaling
(33). In Hodgkin's
disease tumor cells, AP-1 activity contains c-Jun as a major component,
which discriminates the AP-1 complex in LPS-stimulated pre-B cells and
Hodgkin cells. In each case, the Jun proteins most likely
heterodimerize with an unknown partner(s), and the different subunit
composition will likely affect the biological outcome of the response.
Future studies must determine the exact contribution of individual AP-1
factors for mounting an appropriate innate immune response in lymphoid
cells.
The control of AP-1 activity by IKK/NF-
B could
explain some of the observations made in previous studies.
Cross-linking of surface Ig antigen receptor or CD40 ligand in primary
B lymphocytes induced expression of JunB and JunD
(21), and the concomitant
activation of AP-1 was dependent on JunB de novo synthesis
(45), suggesting an
involvement of NF-
B. Furthermore, PKC
deficiency in
peripheral T cells causes a complete block of T-cell-receptor-initiated
NF-
B and AP-1 activation, even though MAPK signaling was
unaffected (43). Thus, we
speculate that MAPK-independent AP-1 activation in T lymphocytes may
involve NF-
B-mediated transcriptional up-regulation of AP-1
family members.
In conclusion, this study defines a novel type of
cross talk between the transcription factors of the NF-
B and
AP-1 families in the innate immune reaction elicited by LPS. Through
NF-
B-dependent AP-1 activation, NF-
B can indirectly
control the expression of AP-1 target genes. The IKK/NF-
B
module acts as a central early switch. Apart from integrating
AP-1 and NF-
B, its primary response genes are apt
to significantly program the secondary transcriptional response to
LPS.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
This work was supported in part by grants from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and National Genome Research Network NGFN to C.S.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
Present
address: Department of Parasitology, University of Tübingen,
72074 Tübingen, Germany. ![]()
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