Definition of a lipopolysaccharide-responsive element in the 59-flanking regions of MuRantes and crg-2

Macrophages are stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of gram-negative organisms. The changes in LPS-stimulated macrophages include transcriptional activation of multiple immediate-early genes, which may contribute to the natural immunity to microorganisms. We have defined by deletion and mutational analysis LPS-responsive elements (LREs) in two chemokine genes, MuRantes and crg-2, which are activated in an immediate-early manner. LRE consists of two motifs, TCAYR, which is an AP-1 half site with two flanking bases, and (A/T)(G/C)NTTYC(A/T)NTTY, which resembles in part the interferon-stimulated responsive element (ISRE). The orientation of these two motifs relative to each other in MuRantes differed from that in crg-2. These two motifs are separated by 10 and 6 nonconsensus nucleotides in the MuRantes and crg-2 LREs, respectively. Stimulation of macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cells with alpha/beta interferon did not activate MuRantes, indicating that the ISRE-like motif in MuRantes does not have ISRE activity. Upon stimulation of RAW 264.7 cells with LPS, proteins capable of binding to LRE accumulate in the nuclei as measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. These LRE-binding proteins include c-Jun and CREB. In the induction of specific immunity, macrophages often play a critical role by processing and presenting antigens to T lymphocytes, which in turn interact with B cells, leading t