Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P51532 (transcriptional activator)
6,546 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Constitutive expression of the IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) on adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) cells and the presence of permanent IL-2-dependent ATL cell lines indicate that the signal transduction system via IL-2R is a key element for the development of this disease. IL-2R is a member of the common gamma-chain (gammac)-receptor family and shares gamma with IL-4R, IL-7R, IL-9R, and IL-15R. In addition to IL-2R, ATL cells express IL-15R and respond to IL-15. In the present study, we examined other members of this receptor family. ATL cells showed various levels of IL-4Ralpha (CD124) and IL-7Ralpha (CD127) expression, and responded to these cytokines. In contrast, ATL cells hardly responded to IL-9. As primary samples were a mixed population and the results may have been modified by contaminating normal cells, we used ATL cell lines as pure ATL cell populations. Here, we report that IL-2-dependent ATL cell lines also express IL-4Ralpha and respond to IL-4, which was verified by the activation of cytoplasmic transcriptional activator Stat6 protein. Moreover, a novel ATL cell line that grows stably in an IL-7-dependent manner was established from one of the cell lines, and IL-7 induced Stat5 activation in this cell line. These results indicated that ATL cells have the potential to express all gammac-receptors except IL-9R. Overlapping and switching of cytokine receptors supported the idea that ATL cells can rapidly select the appropriate gammac-receptor according to conditions.
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PMID:Multiple gammac-receptor expression in adult T-cell leukemia. 1222 94

Brain injuries trigger physiological reactions which are mediated by a number of cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). Astrocytes and microglia, the protagonists in these traumatic responses, are known to secrete a variety of paracrine signals. Oligodendrocytes are involved as well and constitute another possible source of cytokines. Here we show the expression of IL-6, CNTF, and LIF in OLN-93 cells, derived from rat oligodendrocyte primary cultures. While differential gene transcription after injury has been described for many cytokines, the regulation of these physiological responses is unknown in many instances. Recent experiments indicate that the transcriptional activator retinoic acid (RA) plays a role in peripheral nerve regeneration. Transcripts of the retinoic acid receptors and the retinoid X receptors were also detected in OLN-93 oligodendrocytes. Using quantitative RT-PCR, we have therefore investigated the effect of RA on the expression of neuropoietic cytokines in these cells. Treatment with 1 microM all- trans RA for 24 h increased the mRNA concentration of LIF by a factor of 3.1 ( P<0.01). In contrast, RA had no significant effect on the expression of CNTF. The results suggest RA as a possible regulator of cytokine signaling in the CNS.
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PMID:Retinoic acid enhances leukemia inhibitory factor expression in OLN-93 oligodendrocytes. 1239 70

Psoriasis is a T-cell-mediated inflammatory skin disease. A Th1 cytokine profile with increased levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) is predominant in skin and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from psoriasis patients. Furthermore, psoriatic keratinocytes exhibit an aberrant sensitivity and response to IFN-gamma. The transcriptional activator interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) plays a crucial role in the activation of IFN-gamma-induced gene expression. Recently it was shown that mice deficient in IRF-2, a transcriptional repressor of IFN signalling and thereby acting as an IRF-1 antagonist, display psoriasis-like skin abnormalities. It was therefore hypothesized that a dysbalance between IRF-1 and IRF-2, the activator and repressor of IFN responses, respectively, contributes to the altered IFN-gamma signalling observed in patients with psoriasis. In the epidermis of patients with psoriasis and healthy controls, similar IRF-1 and IRF-2 mRNA expression levels were observed. Furthermore, it was not possible to detect any differences in IRF-1 and IRF-2 protein levels in nuclear extracts from the epidermis of controls and psoriasis patients by electrophoretic mobility shift assay and western blot analysis. Using double immunofluorescence labelling, it was observed that in normal skin IRF-1 was expressed in keratinocytes throughout the epidermis, whereas IRF-2 was restricted to the basal cell layer. In psoriatic skin, IRF-1 expression was comparable to normal skin, whereas IRF-2 was expressed in both basal and suprabasal cell layers. This altered IRF-2 expression in suprabasal cell layers may therefore result in a dysbalance between the activator and repressor of IFN responses in these cell layers, putatively contributing to aberrant responses to IFN-gamma and eventually to the psoriatic skin phenotype.
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PMID:Psoriatic lesional skin exhibits an aberrant expression pattern of interferon regulatory factor-2 (IRF-2). 1247 33

A single nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter of the multifunctional cytokine Interleukin 4 (IL4) affects the binding of NFAT, a key transcriptional activator of IL4 in T cells. This regulatory polymorphism influences the balance of cytokine signaling in the immune system, with important consequences-positive and negative-for human health. We determined that the NFAT binding site is unique to humans; it arose by point mutation along the lineage separating humans from other great apes. We show that its frequency distribution among human subpopulations has been shaped by the balance of selective forces on IL4's diverse roles. New statistical approaches, based on parametric and nonparametric comparisons to neutral variants typed in the same individuals, indicate that differentiation among subpopulations at the IL4 promoter polymorphism is too great to be attributed to neutral drift. The allele frequencies of this binding site represent local adaptation to diverse pathogenic challenges; disease states associated with the common derived allele are side-effects of positive selection on other IL4 functions.
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PMID:Positive selection on a human-specific transcription factor binding site regulating IL4 expression. 1465 12

Recent studies have identified heat shock factor (HSF)-1, the predominant heat/stress-stimulated transcriptional activator of heat shock protein genes as a repressor of certain cytokine genes, including TNF-alpha and IL-1beta. We previously showed that exposing macrophages to febrile-range temperature (FRT; 39.5 degrees C) activates HSF-1 to a DNA binding form that does not activate heat shock protein gene transcription, but apparently represses TNF-alpha and IL-1beta transcription. Prewarming macrophages to 39.5 degrees C for 30 min prior to stimulation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) does not change the induction of TNF-alpha transcription, but markedly reduces its duration. This raised the question of how TNF-alpha transcription could occur at all in the presence of activated HSF-1. We used RAW 264.7 cells to test the hypothesis that macrophage activation triggers a transient reversal of HSF-1-mediated repression, thereby allowing induction of TNF-alpha transcription. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that LPS triggers a transient inactivation of HSF-1 that temporally correlates with TNF-alpha transcription and was associated with a transient increase in HSF-1 molecular weight, a decrease in its pI, and appearance of HSF-1 phosphorylating activity. The serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitor, calyculin A, blocked the inhibitory affect of FRT on LPS-induced TNF-alpha generation and prevented the re-activation of HSF-1. We propose that LPS stimulation of FRT-exposed macrophages stimulates a sequential phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of HSF-1, causing a cycle of inactivation and reactivation of HSF-1 repressor activity that allows a temporally-limited period of gene transcription.
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PMID:Bacterial endotoxin modifies heat shock factor-1 activity in RAW 264.7 cells: implications for TNF-alpha regulation during exposure to febrile range temperatures. 1519 52

A key function of interferons is priming multiple cell types for enhanced activation by cytokines and inflammatory factors, including tumor necrosis factor, bacterial lipopolysaccharide and interferons themselves. Here we show that interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha)-induced activation of the transcriptional activator STAT1 and inflammatory STAT1 target genes was enhanced in IFN-gamma-primed macrophages. Enhanced IFN-alpha signaling and proinflammatory function were dependent on the tyrosine kinase Syk and on adaptor proteins that activate Syk through immunoreceptor tyrosine activation motifs. Increased STAT1 expression contributed to enhanced IFN-alpha-induced STAT1 activation in primed macrophages. These results identify a mechanism by which crosstalk between cytokine and immune cell-specific immunoreceptor tyrosine activation motif-dependent signaling pathways regulates macrophage responses to IFN-alpha.
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PMID:Amplification of IFN-alpha-induced STAT1 activation and inflammatory function by Syk and ITAM-containing adaptors. 1546 22

Chronic inflammation is a characteristic feature of aging, and the relationship between cellular senescence and inflammation, although extensively studied, is not well understood. An overlapping pathway screen identified human polynucleotide phosphorylase (hPNPase(old-35)), an evolutionary conserved 3',5'-exoribonuclease, as a gene up-regulated during both terminal differentiation and cellular senescence. Enhanced expression of hPNPase(old-35) via a replication-incompetent adenovirus (Ad.hPNPase(old-35)) in human melanoma cells and normal human melanocytes results in a characteristic senescence-like phenotype. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a key role in the induction of both in vitro and in vivo senescence. We now document that overexpression of hPNPase(old-35) results in increased production of ROS, leading to activation of the nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB pathway. Ad.hPNPase(old-35) infection promotes degradation of IkappaBalpha and nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB and markedly increases binding of the transcriptional activator p50/p65. The generation of ROS and activation of NF-kappaB by hPNPase(old-35) are prevented by treatment with a cell-permeable antioxidant, N-acetyl-l-cysteine. Infection with Ad.hPNPase(old-35) enhances the production of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, two classical NF-kappaB-responsive cytokines, and this induction is inhibited by N-acetyl-l-cysteine. A cytokine array reveals that Ad.hPNPase(old-35) infection specifically induces the expression of proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-8, RANTES, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3. We hypothesize that hPNPase(old-35) might play a significant role in producing pathological changes associated with aging by generating proinflammatory cytokines via ROS and NF-kappaB. Understanding the relationship between hPNPase(old-35) and inflammation and aging provides a unique opportunity to mechanistically comprehend and potentially intervene in these physiologically important processes.
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PMID:Human polynucleotide phosphorylase (hPNPaseold-35): a potential link between aging and inflammation. 1549 72

Tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-alpha) is a proinflammatory cytokine that is produced by activated macrophages. It has been shown to stimulate the release of endothelial cytokines and NO, increase vascular permeability, decrease contractility, and induce a prothrombotic state. The most studied TNF-a gene mutation in heart disease is a gamma to alpha substitution, which occurs when 308 nucleotides move upstream from the transcription initiation site in the TNF promoter and has been associated with elevated levels of TNF-alpha. The TNF1 allele (wild type) contains gamma at this site, while the TNF2 allele has an alpha substitution at the site. The TNF2 allele is a more powerful transcriptional activator, therefore leading to higher TNF-alpha levels. Most of the studies to date have failed to conclusively show any link between the polymorphism and heart disease, both coronary artery disease and cardiomyopathy/heart failure.
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PMID:Tumor necrosis factor alpha polymorphism in heart failure/cardiomyopathy. 1559 43

Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is the etiologic agent of both adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Although the genesis of HAM/TSP likely involves several steps, the generation of a highly specific and effective population of Tax-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that migrate to the central nervous system (CNS) is of pivotal importance in this neuropathologic process. Presentation of Tax peptides by activated dendritic cells (DCs) to naive CD8+ T cells likely plays an important role in the induction of a Tax-specific CTL response and the eventual neurologic dysfunction observed in HAM/TSP. The immune response mounted during HTLV-I infection is primarily targeted against Tax with both Tax-specific antibodies and CTLs found in HTLV-I-infected individuals, indicating that Tax is available for immune recognition. Studies have suggested that Tax may be secreted from HTLV-I-infected cells and act as an extracellular cytokine, be internalized and processed for presentation, or be transported to the nucleus where it may act as a transcriptional activator. The authors report in this article that purified Tax induces DC activation involving an increase in the production of CD80 and CD86 mRNA in the absence of corresponding protein synthesis. Furthermore, intracellular Tax down-regulates the protein expression of molecules involved in antigen presentation. This implies a difference in the mechanism of Tax activity depending upon its location. Additionally, treatment of JAWS II DCs with extracellular Tax decreases the ability of DCs to present a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted peptide, indicating that Tax likely matures the DCs to the point where presentation of a secondary antigen is restricted. The implication of the experimental results with respect to the generation of a Tax-specific CTL compartment that participates in the genesis of HAM/TSP is discussed.
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PMID:Human T-cell leukemia virus type I Tax induces the expression of dendritic cell markers associated with maturation and activation. 1576 7

IL-19 is a novel, recently identified member of the IL-10 family of cytokines. We identified IL-10 as a cytokine that was strongly induced in IL-19-stimulated PBMC. IL-19-induced IL-10 secretion was dose-dependent and could be detected in culture supernatants after 3 h of stimulation. Furthermore, quantitative RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that IL-19 stimulation increased the level of IL-10 mRNA present within cells, suggesting that IL-19 is a transcriptional activator of IL-10. IL-19 was also able to induce its own expression, with IL-10 potently down-regulating this IL-19 'auto-induction'. LPS induction of IL-19 expression was also regulated by IL-10, demonstrating that IL-10 is likely an important regulator of human IL-19 induction. Maturation of dendritic cells from human PBMC in the presence of IL-19 resulted in an increase in IL-10 levels within these cells, whereas IL-12 was not affected. These results advance our understanding of the function of this novel cytokine and its regulation within the human immune system, in addition to providing a new insight into the control of the important immunoregulatory cytokine, IL-10.
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PMID:Human IL-19 regulates immunity through auto-induction of IL-19 and production of IL-10. 1582 59


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