Aberrant cytokine regulation in macrophages from young autoimmune-prone mice: evidence that the intrinsic defect in MRL macrophage IL-1 expression is transcriptionally controlled.

We have reported that, when compared to macrophages from normal strains, macrophages from the autoimmune-prone MRL and NZB mouse strains demonstrate dramatically reduced IL-1 expression in response to LPS. In MRL mice, this is an intrinsic defect which is unmodified by age, the progression of disease, or the presence of the Ipr gene. Here we report that the key events leading to aberrant IL-1 expression appear to be transcriptional, based on the following three sets of findings. (1) Nuclear run-on analysis demonstrates that the patterns of IL-1 transcription in MRL/+ and BALB/c macrophages are distinct, as the former is clearly more transient. The reduction in MRL/+ IL-1 transcription coincides with a reduction in the levels of nuclear NF-KB and precedes a drop in IL-1 mRNA steady-state levels. (2) Reduced levels of IL-1 transcripts are found in both nuclear and cytosolic fractions of MRL/+ macrophages, arguing against faculty IL-1 mRNA transport into the cytosol as a contributing factor in the establishment of this defect. (3) In the presence of actinomycin D, the rate of RNA degradation is similar in MRL/+ and BALB/c macrophages. Moreover, in vitro RNA decay assays demonstrate that even in the absence of metabolic inhibitors, there is no evidence for an accelerated decay of IL-1 mRNA during exposure to lysates isolated from MRL/+ vs BALB/c macrophages. Taken together, these findings argue that transcription is the predominant level at which this striking example of cytokine dysregulation is controlled.