The role of Sp1 and NF-kappa B in regulating CD40 gene expression

CD40 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily and is a key signaling molecule expressed by antigen-presenting cells of the immune system. In a previous paper, we demonstrated that the expression of CD40 is regulated by both post-transcriptional and post-translational processes. In this paper, we show that basal (constitutive) CD40 gene expression is regulated by a TATA-less promoter, with Sp1 as a key transcription factor. Two Sp1 binding regions were identified in the mouse CD40 promoter at positions -59 to -50 and -74 to -66. Surprisingly, Sp1-mediated CD40 transcription was reduced following lipopolysaccharide stimulation and was associated with a time-dependent reduction in Sp1 DNA binding activity. This reduction seemed to be mediated by phosphorylation of the Sp1 molecule. We also show here that CD40 expression in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated cells is up-regulated by NF-kappaB through two distinct sites. One of these sites (-128 to -119) was shown to bind p50 and p65 members of the NF-kappaB family, while the other site (-562 to -553) bound only p65. Transfectants of p65 were generated using RAW 264 cells, and it was shown that the up-regulation of CD40 mRNA expression was dependent on the presence of the p65 molecule.