Expression and regulation of NDRG2 (N-myc downstream regulated gene 2) during the differentiation of dendritic cells

We searched for genes with expressions specific to human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) using differential display reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and found that N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG2), a member of a new family of differentiation-related genes, was expressed in DCs. While DCs derived from CD34(+) progenitor cells also showed strong NDRG2 expression, the corresponding mRNA expression was absent in other cell lines including monocytes, B cells, and NK cells. The inhibition of DC differentiation by dexamethasone or vitamin D(3) treatment down-regulated the expression of the NDRG2 gene in DCs. In addition, gene expression was induced in a myelomonocytic leukemia cell line, which is capable of differentiating into DCs in cytokine-conditioned culture. The level of NDRG2 gene expression in DCs was significantly higher than that of other members of the NDRG gene family. Finally, in contrast to the stable NDRG2 expression in CD40-stimulated DCs, the induction of DC maturation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) resulted in the down-regulation of NDRG2 gene expression. This down-regulation is likely to be due to a modification and subsequent destabilization of NDRG2 mRNA, because co-treating with actinomycin D and LPS significantly blocked this LPS effect. Taken together, our results indicate that NDRG2 is expressed during the differentiation of DCs, and that NDRG2 gene expression is differentially regulated by maturation-inducing stimuli.