Complex expression pattern of the CEF-4 cytokine in transformed and mitogenically stimulated cells

The transformation of chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) by the Rous sarcoma virus leads to the constitutive expression of the cellular gene designated CEF-4. With specific antisera, we confirmed that transformed cells actively synthesize and secrete a 6 kDa polypeptide corresponding to the CEF-4 gene product. The expression of CEF-4 was investigated by Northern and immunoprecipitation analyses. Upon activation of pp60v-src in cells infected by a ts mutant of RSV, the expression of CEF-4 was biphasic with an early transient and a late constitutive period of expression. CEF-4 was expressed in cells transformed by a variety of oncogenes, but the level of constitutive expression differed quantitatively among transformed cells. Cells transformed by v-myc alone did not express CEF-4. Unlike other members of the interleukin 8 gene family, CEF-4 was induced in response to a broad spectrum of growth factors and inflammatory agents. Dexamethasone repressed the induction of CEF-4 by lipopolysaccharides but had little or no effect on the response to serum or pp60v-src. These data emphasize the complexity of CEF-4 expression and suggest the existence of multiple levels or pathways of CEF-4 regulation in normal and transformed cells.