0000000000292258
AUTHOR
Xiaojing Ma
Regulation of IL-12 p40 Promoter Activity in Primary Human Monocytes: Roles of NF-κB, CCAAT/Enhancer-Binding Protein β, and PU.1 and Identification of a Novel Repressor Element (GA-12) That Responds to IL-4 and Prostaglandin E2
Abstract Appropriate regulation of IL-12 expression is critical for cell-mediated immune responses. In the present study, we have analyzed the regulation of IL-12 p40 promoter activity in primary human monocytes in vivo. Accordingly, we analyzed the p40 promoter by in vivo footprinting in resting and activated primary human blood CD14+ monocytes. Interestingly, footprints at binding sites for trans-activating proteins such as C/EBP, NF-κB, and ETS were only found upon stimulation with LPS and IFN-γ. In contrast, a footprint over a purine-rich sequence at −155, termed GA-12 (GATA sequence in the IL-12 promoter), was observed in resting, but not activated, cells. Further characterization of t…
Identification and characterization of a novel Ets-2-related nuclear complex implicated in the activation of the human interleukin-12 p40 gene promoter.
Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a proinflammatory cytokine produced by antigen-presenting cells in response to many microbial infections. IL-12 plays an important role in the generation of T helper type-1 cells, which favor cell-mediated immune response. IL-12 is composed of two different subunits, p40 and p35, whose expression can be regulated concomitantly or differentially. Monocytic cells, the major producers of IL-12, can be primed by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) to produce optimal amounts of IL-12 in response to LPS stimulation as a consequence of bacterial infection. The priming effect is exerted primarily at the transcriptional level on the p40 promoter in conjunction with the effects of …