Mechanism of rsv induced il-8 gene expression in a549 cells prior to viral replication. Fiedler, Michael A., Kara Wernke-Dollries, and James M. Stark. Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Research Foundation and University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45229-3039
APStracts 3:0140L, 1996.
Previous studies demonstrated that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection of A549 cells induced interleukin-8 (IL-8) gene expression and protein release from the cells, as early as 2 hours after treatment (12,16). Furthermore, the effects of RSV at the 2 hour time point were not dependent on viral replication. The studies reported here were designed to test the hypothesis that active and inactive RSV induce IL-8 gene expression in A549 cells at the two hour time point by a mechanism dependent on the activation of the nuclear transcription factor NF-kappa B (NF-MB). Northern blot analysis indicated that IL-8 gene expression occurred independent of protein synthesis two hours after A549 cells were treated with RSV. Analysis of nuclear extracts from RSV treated A549 cells by electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) demonstrated that NF-MB was activated as early as 15 minutes after RSV was added to the cells, and remained activated for at least 90 minutes. In contrast, baseline levels of NF-IL-6 and AP-1 did not change over this period of time. DNase footprint analysis of a portion of the 5' flanking region of the IL-8 gene demonstrated two potential regions for transcription factor binding, which corresponded to the potential AP-1 binding site, and potential NF-IL-6 and NF-M-B binding sites. Mutational analysis of the 200 base pair 5' untranslated region of the IL-8 gene demonstrated that activation of NF-MB and NF-IL-6 were required for RSV induced transcriptional activation of the IL-8 gene.

Received 10 October 1995; accepted in final form 15 August 1996.
APS Manuscript Number L300-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Lung Cell. Mol.
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 29 August 1996