TNF-alpha suppresses IL-1 alpha and IL-6 upregulation of C4b-binding protein in HepG-2 hepatoma cells.

C4b-binding protein (C4BP) is a regulatory protein involved in the regulation of the classical pathway of complement and the natural anticoagulant pathway. C4BP is synthesized by the liver, a target organ of the IL-6 proinflammatory cytokine. C4BP is an acute-phase protein and its basal levels may increase by as much as 4-fold during an inflammatory response. IL-6 which plays a major role in the modulation of the acute-phase proteins, including C4BP, also has been shown by our group to significantly increase hepatocyte production of the anticoagulant protein, protein S. In this study, we have examined the role of cytokine combinations on the production of the C4BP regulatory protein in the HepG-2 hepatoma cell line and report that IL-1 alpha and IL-6 in combination as well as IL-1 alpha and Oncostatin M (OSM) were approximately additive in the upregulation of C4BP while IL-6 and OSM were not and that TNF-alpha blocked both IL-1 alpha and IL-6 but not OSM upregulation of C4BP.