Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides Commons^™

Regulation Of Collagenase Gene Expression By Il-1 Beta Requires Transcriptional And Post-Transcriptional Mechanisms, Matthew P. Vincenti, Charles I. Coon, Oneil Lee, Constance E. Brinckerhoff

Dartmouth Scholarship

Interleukin-1 beta is believed to contribute to the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis by activating collagenase gene expression. We have used a cell culture model of rabbit synovial fibroblasts to examine the molecular mechanisms of IL-1 beta-mediated collagenase gene expression. Stimulation of rabbit synovial fibroblasts with 10 ng/ml recombinant human IL-1 beta resulted in a 20-fold increase in collagenase mRNA by 12 h. Transient transfection studies using collagenase promoter-CAT constructs demonstrated that proximal sequences responded poorly to IL-1 beta, possibly due to insufficient activation of AP-1 by this cytokine. More distal sequences were required for IL-1 beta responsiveness, with a 4700 …