Identification of NF-jun, a novel inducible transcription factor that regulates c-jun gene transcription

In this study we report the identification of a novel transcription factor, termed Nuclear Factor-jun (NF-jun). This factor contributes to inducible transcription of the c-jun gene in human myeloid leukemia cells. NF-jun was, however, undetectable in nuclear proteins from human monocytes, granulocytes, resting T lymphocytes and lung fibroblasts. NF-jun shares several features with the well characterized NF-kappa B in that binding activity can be generated in cytosolic extracts by treatment with dissociating agents. In addition, binding of NF-jun to its recognition site is enhanced by treatment of cells with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, tumor necrosis factor alpha or the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide (CHX). However, as revealed by competition assays and electrophoretic mobility shift assays, purified NF-kappa B fails to bind to the c-jun fragment which contains the NF-jun site, and this fragment fails to compete with NF-kappa B for binding. UV crosslinking showed that NF-jun contains a 55 and a 125 kDa protein species. These findings demonstrate that the c-jun gene can be regulated by a transcription factor distinct from AP-1. Our findings also indicate that while NF-jun has several features in common with the NF-kappa B binding protein including its subcellular localization and its ability to translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, this factor recognizes a unique DNA sequence. Moreover, the activity of this protein is differentially regulated in various cell types. NF-jun might function as a signal transducing molecule in order to mediate rapid induction of the early response gene c-jun in a cell type- and stimulus-specific manner.