IL-17 enhances chemokine gene expression through mRNA stabilization

IL-17 plays an important role in host defense and autoimmunity via the induction of proinflammatory gene expression, particularly in combination with TNF-alpha. The molecular mechanisms by which IL-17 regulates such expression are not well understood. Using the mouse chemokine CXCL1 (KC) gene as a model, we have examined the effects of IL-17 alone or in combination with TNF-a on transcriptional and posttranscriptional events. Although treatment of mouse embryonic fibroblasts with IL-17 alone only modestly increased KC expression, the combination of IL-17 with TNF-a induced a synergistic response. IL-17 treatment exerted a strong posttranscriptional effect by extending the t(1/2) of the highly unstable, TNF-alpha-induced KC mRNA. Using a tetracycline-regulated transgene in HeLa cells, we determined that IL-17 treatment alone promoted stabilization of KC mRNA in the absence of TNF-a. IL-17 treatment exerted little effect on KC transcription or NF-kappa B activation, suggesting that it primarily acts posttranscriptionally. We identified a number of other mRNAs whose t(1/2) are prolonged in response to IL-17, suggesting that this is a common mechanism by which IL-17 promotes enhanced gene expression. Finally, activator of NF-kappa B1 protein (Act1), an adaptor protein recently implicated in IL-17 signaling, was necessary for IL-17-induced stabilization, and overexpression of Act1 resulted in stabilization of KC mRNA, indicating that events downstream of Act1 are sufficient to initiate this process. Thus, the synergy between TNF-a and IL-17 reflects their independent actions on KC gene expression; TNF-a serves as a stimulus to initiate transcription through activation of NF-kappa B, whereas IL-17 drives mRNA stabilization through an Act1-dependent pathway.