Involvement of Notch signaling pathway in regulating IL-12 expression via c-Rel in activated macrophages

Macrophages play an important role both in innate and adaptive immune responses. Treatment with interferon (IFN) γ together with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activates pro-inflammatory macrophages which secrete various pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-12. IL-12 promotes a Th1 type immune response by directly controlling the differentiation of CD4(+) T helper 1 cells. Activation of Notch signaling pathway was reported in activated macrophages but the involvement of this signaling pathway in IL-12 expression has not been documented. In this study, we investigated the role of Notch signaling in regulating expression of the IL-12/IL-23 subunit, IL-12p40. Using a gamma-secretase inhibitor (GSI) to inhibit Notch signaling, we observed a profound decrease in il12p40 mRNA levels and IL-12p70 secretion upon IFNγ/LPS stimulation. On the other hand, overexpression of activated form of Notch1 in activated RAW264.7 macrophage-like cell lines significantly increased the level of il12p40 mRNA. GSI treatment did not affect the expression of irf5, a master regulator of il12p40 transcription in macrophages. Detailed analysis of the signaling cascades that were affected by this inhibition showed that c-Rel nuclear translocation was inhibited and Erk1/2 activation was compromised by GSI treatment. Addition of exogenous tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α only partially rescued the expression of il12p40 in the presence of GSI. Unexpectedly, inhibition of Notch signaling using a dominant negative (DN) Mastermind-like (MAML) transcription co-activator, did not affect c-Rel nuclear localization upon activation or il12p40 mRNA levels, suggesting that the transcriptional activity of Notch signaling is dispensable for the activation of c-Rel. These results strongly suggest that Notch signaling in activated macrophages is involved in regulating the expression of il12p40 directly via c-Rel and indirectly via TNFα production.