Modulation of the constitutive gene expression of the 55 kD tumor necrosis factor receptor in hematopoietic cells

The expression of the 55 kD human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor gene was investigated. By use of a 1.2 kb cDNA we demonstrated a constitutive expression of a single 2.3 kb transcript in cell lines and fresh blood cells. The TNF receptor gene expression was not affected by phorbol esters, dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP), interleukin-1 (IL-1), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) or by TNF, agents known to modulate functional TNF receptors. The phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine (IBMX) showed a dose dependent inhibition of the TNF receptor gene expression. This inhibition is not mediated by cAMP, since neither dbcAMP nor forskolin had any effects on the expression of the 55 kD receptor gene. The results suggest that the effects of phorbol diesters, IL-1, IFN-gamma, TNF and dbcAMP previously observed on binding of TNF to cells are limited to posttranscriptional regulation of the 55 kD TNF receptor.