Interleukin-6 induction by tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-1 in human fibroblasts involves activation of a nuclear factor binding to a kappa B-like sequence.

Using variable-length deletion constructs of the 5'-flanking region of the human interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene linked to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene, we showed that the region from positions -109 to -50 mediated the bulk of the response to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or interleukin-1 (IL-1), while it was less responsive to forskolin. DNA mobility shift assays and DNase I footprinting analysis identified a nuclear protein from TNF- or IL-1-treated fibroblasts that bound to a region comprising a kappa B-like element located between positions -72 and -63 on the IL-6 gene. On the basis of these and other experiments, we conclude that TNF and IL-1 apparently activate IL-6 gene expression by closely related mechanisms involving activation of a NF-kappa B-like factor, whereas the pathway of IL-6 induction by forskolin is, in part, different.     

Interleukin 1 and cyclic AMP induce kappa immunoglobulin light-chain expression via activation of an NF-kappa B-like DNA-binding protein.

Interleukin 1 (IL-1) induces the synthesis of kappa immunoglobulin light chains and the expression of surface immunoglobulin in the murine pre-B-cell line 70Z/3 (J. G. Giri, P. W. Kincade, and S. B. Mizel, J. Immunol. 132:223-228, 1984). In the present study, we found that these effects of IL-1 are mimicked by cyclic AMP (cAMP) analogs and cAMP-elevating drugs. The induction of kappa immunoglobulin light-chain gene expression by IL-1 was associated with an increase in intracellular cAMP levels. Incubation of 70Z/3 cells with IL-1 or cAMP resulted in the activation of the kappa immunoglobulin enhancer, as detected by the induction of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) in cells transfected with a kappa enhancer-CAT expression plasmid. In contrast, CAT plasmids lacking a kappa immunoglobulin enhancer were inactive in the presence of IL-1 or cAMP. Furthermore, IL-1 and cAMP analogs and inducers were found to induce the activation of a NF-kappa B-like DNA-binding protein that exhibited specificity for the kappa immunoglobulin enhancer. These results suggest that cAMP may play an important role as a second messenger for IL-1 in the induction of kappa immunoglobulin light-chain synthesis in pre-B cells via the activation of a DNA-binding protein that is similar or identical to NF-kappa B.