Induction of the Mouse Serum Amyloid A3 Gene by Cytokines Requires Both C/EBP Family Proteins and a Novel Constitutive Nuclear Factor JIANYI H
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MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY, July 1994, p. 4475-4484 Vol. 14, No. 7 0270-7306/94/$04.00+0 Copyright © 1994, American Society for Microbiology Induction of the Mouse Serum Amyloid A3 Gene by Cytokines Requires both C/EBP Family Proteins and a Novel Constitutive Nuclear Factor JIANYI H. HUANG AND WARREN S.-L. LIAO* Department ofBiochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030 Received 1 December 1993/Returned for modification 2 February 1994/Accepted 1 April 1994 Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a major acute-phase protein synthesized and secreted mainly by the liver. In response to acute inflammation, its expression may be induced up to 1,000-fold, primarily as a result of a 200-fold increase in the rate of SAA gene transcription. We have previously demonstrated that a 350-bp promoter fragment from the mouse SAA3 gene was necessary and sufficient to confer liver-specific and cytokine-induced expression. Deletion studies identified a distal response element that is responsible for the cytokine response and has properties of an inducible transcriptional enhancer. In this study, we further analyzed the distal response element and showed that it consists of three functionally distinct elements: the A element constitutes a weak binding site for C/EBP family proteins, the B element also interacts with C/EBP family proteins but with a much higher binding affinity, and the C element interacts with a novel constitutive nuclear factor, SEF-1. Site-specific mutation studies revealed that all three elements were required for maximum promoter activity. C/EBPoL, C/EBPP, and C/EBPB were capable of interacting with elements A and B. Under noninduced conditions, C/EBPa was the major binding factor, however, upon cytokine stimulation C/EBPID- and C/EBP8-binding activities were dramatically increased and became the predominant binding factors. Consistent with these binding studies were the cotransfection experiments in which C/EBPP and C/EBP8i were shown to be potent transactivators for the SAA3 promoter. Moreover, the transactivation required an intact B element despite the presence of other functional C/EBP-binding sites. Interestingly, although element C did not interact with C/EBP directly, it was nevertheless required for maximum transactivation by C/EBP8. Our studies thus demonstrate that both C/EBP family proteins and SEF-1 are required to transactivate the SAA3 gene. The systemic response to acute inflammation, infection, and scription activation of acute-phase genes (2, 14, 38, 39). All tissue injury is characterized by changes in the concentrations three C/EBP proteins have the basic leucine zipper motif of a wide variety of plasma proteins collectively called the initially found in C/EBPa. and have similar sequence specific- acute-phase reactants (23, 24, 27, 36). Expression of these ities in their DNA binding, each having the modified consensus genes is regulated primarily by the inflammatory cytokines sequence T(T/G)NNG(A/C/T)AA(T/G) (14). During acute interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (13, 23, inflammation, expression of C/EBPa is reduced while that of 29, 38) and by the steroid hormone glucocorticoids (7, 13). C/EBPB and C/EBP8 is elevated, although by different mech- Elevated expression of acute-phase genes is regulated at the anisms. The increase in C/EBPfB binding and transactivation transcription level, as a result of increased interaction of activities occurs mainly through posttranslational modification transcription factors induced by inflammatory cytokines with (44, 49, 50). In contrast, elevated C/EBP8 mRNA synthesis their cognate regulatory cis-acting DNA elements (3, 14, 17, contributes to its activation (50). 38, 48, 59, 60). Analyses of many acute-phase promoters have Serum amyloid A (SAA) is one of the major acute-phase revealed three general types of regulatory elements in the proteins synthesized in hepatocytes during acute inflammation transcriptional induction by cytokines-the binding sites for (16, 23, 52). In mice, the SAA gene family consists of four members of the C/EBP transcription factors, the binding sites genes-SAAJ, SAA2, SAA3, and SAAS-and a pseudogene for the NF-KB/Rel family of proteins, and the binding sites for (19, 41, 53). In response to acute inflammation, the concentra- IL-6 response element-binding protein (IL-6 RE BP) and tion of SAA in plasma increases approximately 1,000-fold, acute-phase response factor (APRF) with the consensus bind- primarily because of an increased SAA gene transcription (42). ing sequence of CTGGGA (26) or an extended motif of Whereas expression of SAA1, SAA2, and SAA3 is dramatically (T/G)T(C/A)(C/T)(G/T)G(G/T)AA (59). induced and Several nuclear factors can interact with the C/EBP type of each contributes equally to the increased SAA cytokine response element. In addition to the liver-enriched mRNA levels in the liver (42), SAA5 expression is induced to transcription factor C/EBPa, two others, C/EBPP and a much lower level and with different induction kinetics (19). C/EBP8, have been identified (1, 10, 12, 20, 35, 49) and shown In efforts to unravel the molecular mechanisms of SAA gene to be centrally involved in mediating cytokine-dependent tran- regulation, the promoters of human (22) and rat (38, 39) SAAJ and mouse SAA3 (29, 37) have been studied. A phorbol ester response element containing the NF-KB consensus binding site * Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochem- was identified in the human SAAJ promoter and shown to be istry and Molecular Biology/Box 117, University of Texas M. D. necessary for its cytokine responsiveness (22). Studies of the Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030. rat SAAJ promoter demonstrated functional importance for Phone: (713) 792-2556. Fax: (713) 790-0329. and cooperative interaction between NF-KB and C/EBP pro- 4475 4476 HUANG AND LIAO MOL. CELL. BIOL. teins in cytokine-induced expression (39). Studies with the mouse SAA3 promoter demonstrated that a 350-bp promoter -169 B -126 fragment was necessary and sufficient to confer liver-specific and cytokine-induced expression (29). A proximal response DRE CGATCACATTTCTGGAAATGCCTAGATGGCGCAATCTGGGGAAAGAT element that contains two adjacent C/EBP-binding sequences DRmA enhances SAA3 gene expression in liver-derived cells (37). A distal response element (DRE) that confers responsiveness to DRmBE -----------------------------A---------------- cytokine induction has properties of an inducible transcrip- tional enhancer (29). In this study, we demonstrate that three DRnB2 -----------------------------GAT-TC------------ functionally distinct elements reside within the DRE. One DRmC -----------A-CA----T--------------------------- element interacts with a novel transcription factor termed SAA enhancer factor 1 (SEF-1) that is detected in variety of cell -140 -128 I 1 types. The other two elements interact with C/EBP family OL-A CGATCTGGGGAAAGAT proteins. All three elements are required for maximum induc- OL-mA ----TCAA-------- tion by cytokines. In addition, our results show that C/EBPOL, -156 -135 C/EBPP, and C/EBP8 can transactivate the SAA3 promoter OL-B CGATGCCTAGATGGCGCAATCTGGTTAT and that the transactivation requires functional binding sites -169 -147 for both C/EBP and SEF-1. OL-C CGATCACATTTCTGGAAATGCCTAGAT OL-mC MATERIALS AND METHODS -117 -99 I I Cell lines, transient-transfection assay, and conditioned OL-117 GAAGGAAAAGTTATCTTCT medium. Hep3B cells were cultured in basal medium consist- ing of minimum essential medium and Waymouth MAB (3:1, OL-IL- 6 CGATACGTCACATTGCACAATCTTAAT vol/vol) plus 10% fetal calf serum (18) and were passaged at OL-Hpx CGATCAGTGATGTAATCA confluence by trypsinization about once a week. DNA transfections were performed by the Polybrene pro- NFXB GATCCGGGGACTTTCCG cedures (34) as described previously (29). Approximately 16 to GATCTATGCAAATG 20 h after transfection, Hep3B cells were stimulated with basal Oct-1 medium, 50% conditioned medium (CM), or 100 U of IL-lot FIG. 1. Oligonucleotide sequences. The nucleotide sequence of DRE is shown, and the regions for elements A, B, and C are indicated per ml. Cell extracts were assayed for protein content by the by the brackets. DRmA, DRmB, and DRmC are oligonucleotides in Bradford assay (9), and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase which site-specific mutations have been introduced into each of the (CAT) activity was determined by modifications (11) of pro- three elements. OL-A, OL-mA, OL-B, OL-C, and OL-mC are oligo- cedures described by Gorman et al. (25). To determine CAT nucleotides corresponding to either wild-type or mutated elements. In activities, we quantitated [14C]chloramphenicol spots corre- all cases, only the mutated nucleotides are indicated. The OL-117 sponding to acetylated and nonacetylated forms by using a sequence corresponds to bp -117 to -99 in the SAA3 promoter and Phosphor Imager (Molecular Dynamic). was used to generate a promoter fragment for the pSAA3(-117) Purified recombinant human IL-la (specific activity, 2.5 X construct. The numbers above the sequences indicate their positions in 109 U/mg) was provided by P. T. Lomedico (Hoffmann- the mouse SAA3 promoter. The sequences of OL-IL-6, OL-Hpx, NF-KB-binding site, and Oct-i-binding site are from the NF-IL6- LaRoche, Nutley, N.J.). CM was prepared from mixed human binding site in human IL-6 promoter (1), the C/EBP-binding site in the lymphocyte cultures stimulated with 0.75% phytohemaggluti- hemopexin promoter (48), the NF-KB-binding site in the immunoglob- nin as described previously (29). ulin K light-chain promoter (4), and the Oct-1-binding consensus Nuclear proteins and electrophoretic mobility shift assay. sequence (55), respectively. Nuclear extracts from Hep3B cells were prepared as described by Li et al. (37). For the induced nuclear extracts, Hep3B cells were treated with 50% CM for 16 to 20 h before harvest. For electrophoretic mobility shift assays, 20 [lI of the reaction then digested with 4 jig of freshly diluted DNase I per ml at mixture [12 mM N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesul- room temperature for 30 s.