The transcriptional coactivator CREB-binding protein cooperates with STAT1 and NF-kappa B for synergistic transcriptional activation of the CXC ligand 9/monokine induced by interferon-gamma gene.

Signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1) and NF-kappaB cooperatively regulate the expression of many inflammatory genes. In the present study, we demonstrate that the transcriptional coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP) mediated the STAT1/NF-kappaB synergy for transcription of the gene for CXC ligand 9 (CXCL9), an interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-inducible chemokine. Reporter gene analysis showed that expression of CBP potentiated IFN-gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNFalpha)-induced promoter activity and that the CBP-mediated synergy depended upon STAT1- and NF-kappaB-binding sites in the promoter. Experiments with CBP mutants indicated that the N-terminal and C-terminal regions were necessary for the transcriptional synergy, although the histone acetyltransferase activity of CBP was dispensable. A co-immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that STAT1 and NF-kappaB RelA (p65) simultaneously associated with CBP in vivo. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that, although costimulation with IFN-gamma and TNFalpha did not cooperatively enhance the levels of acetylated histones, it did result in increased recruitment of STAT1, CBP, and RNA polymerase II at the promoter region of the CXCL 9 gene. Together, these results demonstrate that the STAT1/NF-kappaB-dependent transcriptional synergy could result from the enhanced recruitment of RNA polymerase II complex to the promoter via simultaneous interaction of CBP with STAT1 and NF-kappaB.