TNF is a major mediator of inflammation, immunity, and apoptosis. Pre-exposure to TNF reduces sensitivity to restimulation, a phenomenon known as tolerance, considered as protective in sepsis, but also as a paradigm for immunoparalysis. Earlier experiments in TNF-tolerant cells display inhibition of NF-κB-dependent IL-8 gene expression at the transcriptional level with potential involvement of C/EBPβ. In this study, we have shown that a κB motive was sufficient to mediate transcriptional inhibition under TNF tolerance conditions in monocytic cells. Furthermore, in tolerant cells, TNF-induced NF-κB p65 phosphorylation was markedly decreased, which was accompanied by the formation of C/EBPβ-p65 complexes. Remarkably, in C/EBPβ−/− cells incubated under the conditions of TNF tolerance, neither impairment of transcription nor inhibition of p65 phosphorylation was observed. Finally, we showed that C/EBPβ overexpression reduced p65-mediated transactivation and that association of C/EBPβ with p65 specifically prevented p65 phosphorylation. Our data demonstrate that C/EBPβ is an essential signaling component for inhibition of NF-κB-mediated transcription in TNF-tolerant cells and suggest that this is caused by blockade of p65 phosphorylation. These results define a new molecular mechanism responsible for TNF tolerance in monocytic cells that may contribute to the unresponsiveness seen in patients with sepsis.
There is some evidence that the potent cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is able to induce tolerance after repeated stimulation of cells. To investigate the molecular mechanisms mediating this phenomenon, the expression of interleukin-8 (IL-8), which is regulated by transcription factors NF-B and C/EBP, was monitored under TNF tolerance conditions. Pretreatment of monocytic cells for 72 h with low TNF doses inhibited TNFinduced (restimulation with a high dose) IL-8 promoterdependent transcription as well as IL-8 production. Under these conditions neither activation of NF-B nor I B proteolysis was affected after TNF re-stimulation, albeit a slightly reduced I B-␣ level was found in the TNF pretreated but not re-stimulated sample. Remarkably, in tolerant cells an increased binding of C/EBP to its IL-8 promoter-specific DNA motif as well as an elevated association of C/EBP protein with p65-containing NF-B complexes was observed. Finally, overexpression of C/EBP, but not p65 or Oct-1, markedly prevented TNFinduced IL-8 promoter-dependent transcription. Taken together, these data indicate that the expression of IL-8 is inhibited at the transcriptional level in TNF-tolerant cells and C/EBP is involved under these conditions in mediating the negative-regulatory effects, a mechanism that may play a role in inflammatory processes such as sepsis.
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