In peripheral lymphocytes, the transcription factors (TFs) NF-κB, NFAT, and AP-1 are the prime targets of signals that emerge from immune receptors. Upon activation, these TFs induce gene networks that orchestrate the growth, expansion, and effector function of peripheral lymphocytes. NFAT and NF-κB factors share several properties, such as a similar mode of induction and architecture in their DNA-binding domain, and there is a subgroup of κB-like DNA promoter motifs that are bound by both types of TFs. However, unlike NFAT and AP-1 factors that interact and collaborate in binding to DNA, NFAT, and NF-κB seem neither to interact nor to collaborate. We show here that NF-κB1/p50 and c-Rel, the most prominent NF-κB proteins in BCR-induced splenic B cells, control the induction of NFATc1/αA, a prominent short NFATc1 isoform. In part, this is mediated through two composite κB/NFAT-binding sites in the inducible Nfatc1 P1 promoter that directs the induction of NFATc1/αA by BCR signals. In concert with coreceptor signals that induce NF-κB factors, BCR signaling induces a persistent generation of NFATc1/αA. These data suggest a tight connection between NFATc1 and NF-κB induction in B lymphocytes contributing to the effector function of peripheral B cells.
Keywords:Chromatin r Induction r Lymphocytes r Nfatc1 gene r NF-κB r Transcription Additional supporting information may be found in the online version of this article at the publisher's web-site
IntroductionUpon Ag contact, the induction of resting peripheral lymphocytes leads to networks of signaling events that emerge from their Correspondence: Prof. Edgar Serfling e-mail: serfling.e@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de immune receptors. Primary targets of these signals are members of NF-κB, NFAT, and AP-1/ATF/CREB families of transcription factors (TFs). Upon activation they bind to the promoters, enhancers, and further regulatory elements of numerous genes, * These authors contributed equally to this work.C 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.eji-journal.eu Eur. J. Immunol. 2014. 44: 3392-3402 Molecular immunology 3393 control their expression and, thereby, orchestrate gene expression programs that control the growth, proliferation, and effector function of peripheral lymphocytes. One of the best-characterized lymphocyte-specific promoters is the promoter of human and murine Il2 genes. Within the Il2 promoter of approximately 300 bp, there are several noncanonical sequence motifs for the binding of NF-κB and AP-1/ATF/CREB factors, and composite NFAT + AP-1 sites to which both factors can bind with high affinity [1]. The distal NFAT-binding site from the Il2 promoter (the ARRE2 [2], or distal purine box, Pu-b d [3], that is often referred as the "prototypical" NFAT site), consists of the NFAT "core motif" 5 T / A GGAAAA 3 and a noncanonical TRE (TPA-responsive element), i.e. an AP-1/ATF-binding motif, located 10 bp downstream. Such composite NFAT + AP-1 sites are typical for the promoters/enhancers of many genes induced in peripheral T lymphocytes by immune rec...