INDUCTION OF CIITA AND MODIFICATION OF IN-VIVO HLA-DR PROMOTER OCCUPANCY IN NORMAL THYMIC EPITHELIAL-CELLS TREATED WITH IFN-GAMMA - SIMILARITIES AND DISTINCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO HLA-DR-CONSTITUTIVE B-CELLS
G. Rigaud et al., INDUCTION OF CIITA AND MODIFICATION OF IN-VIVO HLA-DR PROMOTER OCCUPANCY IN NORMAL THYMIC EPITHELIAL-CELLS TREATED WITH IFN-GAMMA - SIMILARITIES AND DISTINCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO HLA-DR-CONSTITUTIVE B-CELLS, The Journal of immunology, 156(11), 1996, pp. 4254-4258
In this study, the IFN-gamma induction of MHC class II gene expression
in primary cultures of thymic epithelial cells (TEC) was analyzed. Th
is cellular system offers the advantage that MHC class II induction is
studied in a ''physiologic'' cell lineage that, as a result of this e
xpression within the thymus, is thought to participate to the selectio
n and maturation of the T cells, It was found that the MHC class II ge
ne expression was associated with the de novo transcription of the gen
e encoding the CIITA trans-activator, a crucial MHC class II gene regu
latory factor, Furthermore, the anatomy of interaction between the MHC
class II DRA promoter and corresponding binding factors was analyzed
by in vivo DNAse I footprint, It was found that treatment with IFN-gam
ma induces changes in the occupancy of the DRA gene regulatory sequenc
es by nuclear factors, The resulting occupancy displays strong similar
ities with the one observed in the MHC class II-constitutive B cells,
represented by both the Burkitt lymphoma line Rail and normal tonsil-d
erived B cells, However, some peculiar differences were observed betwe
en the TEC, either IFN-gamma-induced or not, and the constitutive B ce
lls, These results suggest that both common mechanisms, such as the on
e mediated by the CIITA trans-activator, and distinct tissue-specific
constraints contribute to the transcriptional control of constitutive
and IFN-gamma-induced MHC class II gene expression.