title: C/EBPepsilon is a myeloid-specific activator of cytokine, chemokine, and macrophage-colony-stimulating factor receptor genes.
abstract: C/EBPepsilon is a member of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein family of basic region/leucine zipper transcriptional activators. The C/EBPepsilon protein is highly conserved between rodents and humans, and its domain structure is very similar to C/EBPalpha. In mice C/EBPepsilon mRNA is only detected in hematopoietic tissues, including embryonic liver and adult bone marrow and spleen. Within the hematopoietic system, C/EBPepsilon is expressed primarily in myeloid cells, including promyelocytes, myelomonocytes, and their differentiated progeny. To identify potential functions of C/EBPepsilon, cell lines over-expressing the C/EBPepsilon protein were generated in the P388 lymphoblastic cell line. In contrast to the parental cell line, C/EBPepsilon-expressing cell lines displayed lipopolysaccharide-inducible expression of the interleukin-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) genes as well as elevated basal expression of the MIP-1alpha and MIP-1beta chemokine genes. In the EML-C1 hematopoietic stem cell line, C/EBPepsilon mRNA levels increased as the cells progressed along the myeloid lineage, just preceding activation of the gene encoding the receptor for macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (M-CSFR). M-CSFR expression was stimulated in C/EBPepsilon-expressing P388 cell lines, when compared with either the parental P388 cells or P388 cell lines expressing either C/EBPalpha or C/EBPbeta. These results suggest that C/EBPepsilon may be an important regulator of differentiation of a subset of myeloid cell types and may also participate in the regulation of cytokine gene expression in mature cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology & Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas 79430, USA. cbbscw@ttuhsc.edu
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Weiler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D022762:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000235:genetics; D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D016186:Receptor, Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000235:genetics*; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D022762:CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine; D016186:Receptor, Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor