Activation of the NF-κB Pathway by Inflammatory Stimuli in Human Neutrophils

Abstract

Activated neutrophils have the ability to upregulate the expression of many genes, in particular those encoding cytokines and chemokines, and to subsequently release the corresponding proteins. Although little is known to date concerning the regulation of gene transcription in neutrophils, it is noteworthy that many of these genes depend on the activation of transcription factors, such as NF-κB, for inducible expression. We therefore investigated whether NF-κB/Rel proteins are expressed in human neutrophils, as well as their fate on cell activation. We now report that dimers consisting of p50 NFκB1, p65 RelA, and/or c-Rel are present in neutrophils and that the greater part of these protein complexes is physically associated with cytoplasmic IκB-α in resting cells. Following neutrophil stimulation with proinflammatory agonists (such as lipopolysaccharide [LPS], tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α], and fMet-Leu-Phe) that induce the production of cytokines and chemokines in these cells, NF-κB/Rel proteins translocated to nuclear fractions, resulting in a transient induction of NF-κB DNA binding activity, as determined in gel mobility shift assays. The onset of both processes was found to be closely paralleled by, and dependent on, IκB-α degradation. Proinflammatory neutrophil stimuli also promoted the accumulation of IκB-α mRNA transcripts, resulting in the reexpression of the IκB-α protein. To our knowledge, this constitutes the first indication that NF-κB activation may underlie the action of proinflammatory stimuli towards human neutrophil gene expression and, as such, adds a new facet to our understanding of neutrophil biology.