Role of a distal enhancer containing a functional NF-kappa B-binding site in lipopolysaccharide-induced expression of a novel alpha 1-antitrypsin gene.

alpha 1-Antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT) is one of the major proteinase inhibitors in serum. Its primary physiological function is to inhibit neutrophil elastase activity in lung, but it also inhibits other serine proteases including trypsin, chymotrypsin, thrombin, and cathepsin. We have previously reported a novel alpha 1-AT, S-2 isoform, from rabbit that is induced up to 100-fold in the liver during acute inflammatory condition (Ray, B. K., Gao, X., and Ray, A. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 22080-22086). Here, we present evidence that the expression of this alpha 1-AT S-2 gene is also induced in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated peripheral blood monocytes. From the cloned genomic DNA, we have identified a distal LPS-responsive enhancer located between -2438 and -1990 base pairs upstream of the transcription start site. In vitro DNA-binding studies demonstrated an interaction of an LPS-inducible NF-kappa B-like nuclear factor with a kappa B-element present in this enhancer region. Antibodies against p65 and p50 subunits of NF-kappa B supershifted the DNA-protein complex. A mutation of the NF-kappa B-binding element virtually abolished the LPS-responsive induction of the chimeric promoter in monocytic cells. Furthermore, overexpression of NF-kappa B induced the wild-type promoter activity. Taken together, these results demonstrated that during LPS-mediated inflammation, NF-kappa B/Rel family of transcription factors play a crucial role in the transcriptional induction of the inflammation responsive alpha 1-AT gene.