Induction of IL-8 by UL76 is NF-kB-dependent.

<p>A) Schematic representation of 5′-flanking region of human IL-8 promoter from −131 to +1 base pair, demonstrating locations of defined binding sites for NF-KB, NF-IL-6 and AP-1 transcription factors. B) Luciferase activity was measured in 293T cells co-transfected with pcDNA3 or pcDNA3HA-UL76 and wild-type IL-8 promoter or each one of the deletion mutant luciferase reporter constructs. Luciferase activity was normalized to β-Galactosidase activity as control of transfection efficiency. Data is expressed as fold induction of control vector and is representative of three similar experiments. The x indicates the mutation on AP-1, NF-IL-6 and NF-kβ binding sites within the IL-8 promoter. Statistical significance compared to IL-8 wild type promoter is represented as * <i>p<0.05</i>. C) Luciferase activity was determined in 293T cells co-transfected with pcDNA3 or pcDNA3HA-UL76 and the NF-kB luciferase reporter as previously described. Data are expressed as means ± SD of triplicate wells from one of three similar experiments. Statistical significance is represented as ** <i>p<0.01</i>.