Molecular mechanisms of murine Fc epsilon RII/CD23 regulation

The low affinity receptor for IgE (Fc epsilon RII or CD23), expressed primarily on mouse B cells, is known to be upregulated by interleukin-4 (IL-4) at both the mRNA and protein levels. Fc epsilon RII expression is superinduced when the IL-4 is combined with cell activation. In order to explore the molecular regulation of Fc epsilon RII expression, mouse B cell lines were screened to develop a cell line model. The B cell lymphoma A20.1, was found to behave in a manner similar to mouse B cells in that Fc epsilon RII levels are very low on cells cultured in media alone (< 10(3)/cell), increased by culture in the presence of IL-4, and superinduced by LPS and IL-4 (> 10(5)/cell). The steady state mRNA levels for Fc epsilon RII corresponded to the level of cell surface expression. Transcription assays indicated that the Fc epsilon RII level increases could be explained entirely by increased transcription rates. The A20.1 cell line was subsequently used to analyse the Fc epsilon RII promoter. Nested deletion analysis of the 1.3 kB 5' of the mouse Fc epsilon RII transcription start site, using CAT reporter plasmids transfected into A20.1 cells, identified major elements activating the Fc epsilon RII promoter within 250 bp of the transcription start site. Constructs containing greater than 250 bp of 5' sequence showed significantly reduced CAT activity suggesting negative regulatory regions. Coincident with the restricted tissue expression of murine Fc epsilon RII, the promoter was B cell specific in that little CAT expression was seen in fibroblast, mast cells or T cell lines. Expression was seen, however, in both mouse and human B cell lines. Finally, the promoter was analysed for response to IL-4. Stimulation with IL-4 plus LPS resulted in only a modest increase in CAT activity (approximately 2-fold), in contrast to transcription assays, where increases approximated that seen at the cell surface. Thus, the IL-4 response must also require sequences distal to the regions examined.