Differential regulation of transforming growth factor beta-1 gene expression by glucocorticoids in human T and glial cells.

The inflammatory process in the brain requires bidirectional interaction of the immune and nervous systems. Evidently, astrocytic glial cells play an important role in facilitating this communication by releasing immunomodulators and cytokines. Expression of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF beta-1), a potent inhibitor of T cell function and glial cell proliferation, is highly regulated in T cells and is believed to be an important component in the molecular interaction between the immune and nervous systems. Comparative analysis of TGF beta-1 gene expression in human T and glial cells by Northern hybridization and S1 nuclease protection assay showed that dexamethasone (DM) caused a significant decrease in the basal and PMA-induced levels of TGF beta-1 mRNA in glial cells but not in T cells. This reduction correlated with a lower level of TGF beta-1 protein production. Transient transfection assay using deletion constructs of the 5' TGF beta-1 gene promoter-containing sequences between -453 and +11 bp identified a region spanning -160 to -60 bp as a potential sequence responsive to regulation by DM in T cells, whereas in glial cells, the overall transcriptional activity of the 5' TGF beta-1 promoter was reduced after DM treatment, but promoter activity within each construct remained constant in response to DM. Thus, a DM-responsive region could not be identified within the TGF beta-1 promoter in glial cells. These findings suggest that TGF beta-1 gene expression is differentially regulated by distinct regulatory elements in T and glial cells, and that extracellular stimulators, including glucocorticoids, can utilize the TGF beta-1-regulatory pathway to affect the functions of neural and immune cells.