title: Endotoxin-induced down-regulation of Elk-3 facilitates heme oxygenase-1 induction in macrophages.
abstract: Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a cytoprotective enzyme that is acutely induced by inflammatory stimuli, and the products of HO-1-mediated heme degradation have anti-inflammatory properties. In many different pathophysiologic states, the up-regulation of HO-1 has been shown to be beneficial in combating the detrimental consequences of increased inflammation. Ets transcription factors are known to be important mediators of inflammatory responses, and the ternary complex factor subfamily of Ets proteins has both transcriptional activation and repression activity. The present study demonstrates that of several ternary complex factor subfamily members, only Elk-3 represses HO-1 promoter activity in macrophages. Endotoxin administration to macrophages led to a dose-dependent decrease in endogenous Elk-3 mRNA levels, and this reduction in Elk-3 preceded the LPS-mediated up-regulation of HO-1 message. Analogous results also occurred in lung tissue of mice exposed to endotoxin. Two putative Ets binding sites (EBS1 and EBS2) are present in the downstream region of the murine HO-1 promoter (bp -125 and -93, respectively), and we recently showed that the EBS2 site is essential for HO-1 induction by endotoxin. In contrast, the present study demonstrates that the repressive effect of Elk-3 on HO-1 promoter activity is dependent on the EBS1 site. Taken together, our data reveal that Elk-3 serves as an important repressor of HO-1 gene transcription and contributes to the tight control of HO-1 gene regulation in the setting of inflammatory stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Su Wol
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Yen-Hsu
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shaw-Fang
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yet
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Layne
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Perrella
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D050783:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C086924:Elk3 protein, mouse; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D050783:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1