Regulation of the expression of mouse TAP-associated glycoprotein (tapasin) by cytokines

The expression of antigen presenting MHC class I molecules can be enhanced through cytokines, e.g. upon infection with bacteria or viruses, either directly by enhancing class I gene transcription or by increasing the amounts of accessory proteins of the loading complex. Tapasin plays a significant role in the peptide loading of class I molecules. Here, we describe recognition motifs of cytokine inducible transcription factors in the promoter region of the mouse tapasin gene, most of them clustered within the 140 base pairs upstream of the start codon. Tapasin mRNA was strongly induced in vivo after infection with the facultatively intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes in an IFN-gamma-dependent fashion. Accordingly, both tapasin mRNA and protein were strongly induced in a time and dose dependent manner in embryonic fibroblasts treated with the cytokines IFN-7 and IFN-beta, and weakly induced after treatment with TNF-alpha. Co-stimulation of tapasin by TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma resulted in a weak synergistic effect. Using fibroblasts either lacking IRF-1 or inhibited in protein synthesis we show that secondary transcription factors are necessary for a maximal stimulation of tapasin expression upon IFN-gamma stimulation. The sequential induction of TAPI, LMP2, and tapasin before the stimulated expression of class I heavy chain is discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.