title: Persistent tumor necrosis factor signaling in normal human fibroblasts prevents the complete resynthesis of I kappa B-alpha.
abstract: Transcription factor NF-kappa B is normally sequestered in the cytoplasm, complexed with I kappa B inhibitory proteins. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 induce I kappa B-alpha phosphorylation, leading to I kappa B-alpha degradation and translocation of NF-kappa B to the nucleus where it activates genes important in inflammatory and immune responses. TNF and interleukin-1 actions are typically terminated by desensitization, and I kappa B-alpha reappearance normally occurs within 30-60 min. We found that in normal human FS-4 fibroblasts maintained in the presence of TNF, I kappa B-alpha protein failed to return to base-line levels for up to 15 h. Removal of TNF at any time during the 15-h period resulted in complete I kappa B-alpha resynthesis, suggesting that I kappa B-alpha reappearance was prevented by continued TNF signaling. Long term exposure of FS-4 fibroblasts to TNF led to a persistent presence of I kappa B-alpha mRNA, sustained I kappa B kinase activation, continuous proteasome-mediated degradation of I kappa B-alpha, and sustained nuclear localization of NF-kappa B. Continuous exposure of FS-4 cells to TNF did not lead to a sustained activation of p38 or ERK mitogen-activated protein kinases, suggesting that not all TNF-induced signaling pathways are persistently activated. These findings challenge the notion that all cytokine-mediated signals are rapidly terminated by desensitization and illustrate the need to elucidate the process of deactivation of TNF-induced signaling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Poppers
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schwenger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vilcek
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D020672:I-kappa B Proteins; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology; D000072000:NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D020672:I-kappa B Proteins; C000606204:NFKBIA protein, human; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000072000:NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha