Regulation of IFN regulatory factor-7 and IFN-α production by enveloped virus and lipopolysaccharide in human plasmacytoid dendritic cells

Human plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) are a major source of IFN-alpha upon exposure to enveloped viruses and TLR-7 and TLR-9 ligands. Although IFN regulatory factor-7 (IRF-7) is known to play an essential role in virus-activated transcription of IFN-alpha genes, the molecular mechanisms of IFN-alpha production in human PDC remain poorly understood. We and others have recently reported high constitutive levels of IRF-7 expression in PDC as compared with other PBMC. In this study, we demonstrate that both LPS and HSV up-regulate the expression of IRF-7 in PDC, and that this enhancement of IRF-7 is dependent on NF-kappaB activation. The NF-kappaB inhibitors MG132 and pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate efficiently inhibited the induction of IRF-7 by HSV or LPS, and also down-regulated the constitutive expression of IRF-7 in PDC and blocked the HSV-induced production of IFN-alpha. In addition, we found that nuclear translocation of IRF-7 occurred rapidly in response to HSV stimulation, but not in response to LPS, which is consistent with the stimulation of IFN-alpha production by virus and not by LPS. Although LPS by itself was not able to induce IFN-alpha production, it led to rapid up-regulation of TLR-4 on PDC and increased the magnitude and accelerated the kinetics of HSV-induced IFN-alpha production in PDC, providing a mechanism that might be operative in a scenario of mixed infection. In contrast to the current concept of IFN-alpha regulation established in cell lines, this study strongly supports the immediate availability of high constitutive levels of IRF-7 expression in PDC, and suggests an activation required for IRF-7 that contributes to IFN-alpha production in virus-stimulated PDC.