Transcriptional repression of interleukin-6 gene by adenoviral E1A proteins

Transcription of interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene in human HepG2 and HeLa cells was induced by treatment with interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, or dibutyryl cyclic AMP. These agents enhanced the expression of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) activity in cells transfected with chimeric CAT genes driven by the transcriptional regulatory regions of human IL-6 gene. Both induced and basal levels of CAT expression were severely repressed upon co-transfection of expression vectors encoding the adenoviral E1A289R or E1A243R protein. The conserved region 1 of E1A proteins was required for this activity. IL-6-CAT expression could also be induced by co-transfecting expression vectors containing cDNAs of the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A or c-jun. E1A repressed transcriptional induction by these agents as well. Similar inhibition was observed when a CAT gene driven by the NF kappa B element of the IL-6 gene was used as a reporter plasmid. In a cell line stably transfected with the E1A gene, IL-1 or TNF-alpha failed to induce IL-6 mRNA. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays were carried out with nuclear extracts of these cells using, as probes, the NF kappa B element or the multiple regulatory element of the IL-6 gene. With either probe, additional faster migrating DNA-protein complexes were formed in the extracts of E1A-expressing cells as compared with the extracts of the corresponding control cells. Experiments with NF kappa B antibody revealed differences between the different DNA-protein complexes formed in the extract of E1A-expressing cells. These observations suggest that E1A represses IL-6 gene transcription by interfering with the formation of appropriate DNA-protein complexes.