Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 37, Issue 9, Pages 2549-2561Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/eji.200737088
Keywords
natural killer cells; Sp1; T-bet; transcriptional control
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Funding
- NCI NIH HHS [CA68458, CA95426] Funding Source: Medline
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Murine T-bet (T-box expressed in T cells) is a master regulator of IFN-gamma gene expression in NK and T cells. T-bet also plays a critical role in autoimmunity, asthma and other diseases. However, cis elements or trans factors responsible for regulating T-bet expression remain largely unknown. Here, we report on our discovery of six Sp1-binding sites within the proximal human T-BET promoter that are highly conserved among mammalian species. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrate a physical association between Sp1 and the proximal T-BET promoter with a direct dose response between Sp1 expression and T-BET promoter activity. Ectopic overexpression of Sp1 also enhanced T-BET expression and cytokine-induced IFN-gamma secretion in NK cells and T cells. Mithramycin A, which blocks the binding of Sp1 to the T-BET promoter, diminished both T-BET expression and IFN-gamma protein production in monokine-stimulated primary human NK cells. Collectively, our results suggest that Sp1 is a positive transcriptional regulator of T-BET. As T-BET and IFN-gamma are critically important in inflammation, infection, and. cancer, targeting Sp1, possibly with mithramycin A, may be useful for preventing and/ or treating diseases associated with aberrant T-BET or IFN-gamma expression.
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