Cell-specific and inducible Nramp1 gene expression in mouse macrophages in vitro and in vivo

Mutations in the Nramp1 gene abolish natural resistance to infections with many unrelated intracellular parasites in vivo. Global cDNA amplification was used to analyse Nramp1 mRNA expression in bone marrow-derived cell colonies corresponding to either undifferentiated progenitors or to mature lymphoid, erythroid, and myeloid lineages. Nramp1 mRNA was detected in mature myeloid colonies expressing molecular markers for either the monocyte/macrophage or granulocytic lineages. Having established constitutive expression of Nramp1 in phagocytic cells, the parameters of inducible Nramp1 expression by cytokines and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were studied in the mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7. LPS caused up-regulation of Nramp1 expression in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. This induction required de novo protein synthesis and was abrogated by treatment with cycloheximide. Treatment with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) also caused a modest but reproducible twofold induction of Nramp1 mRNA expression. In addition, maximum Nramp1 mRNA induction in RAW 264.7 cells was observed after pretreatment with IFN-gamma followed by LPS exposure. In vivo, Nramp1 mRNA expression could be up-regulated in macrophage populations by intraperitoneal injection of either LPS or thioglycollate. Together these results indicate that Nramp1 is expressed in professional phagocytes of the myeloid lineage and can be further up-regulated during macrophage activation in response to infectious, inflammatory, or cytokine stimuli. Finally, the patterns of constitutive and inducible expression of Nramp1 have been compared to those of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene in the same cells.