TY - JOUR T1 - Regulation of Tristetraprolin Expression by Interleukin-1β and Dexamethasone in Human Pulmonary Epithelial Cells: Roles for Nuclear Factor-κB and p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 575 LP - 585 DO - 10.1124/jpet.109.151423 VL - 330 IS - 2 AU - Elizabeth M. King AU - Manminder Kaur AU - Wei Gong AU - Christopher F. Rider AU - Neil S. Holden AU - Robert Newton Y1 - 2009/08/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/330/2/575.abstract N2 - The mRNA-destabilizing protein tristetraprolin (TTP) negatively regulates adenine- and uridine-rich element (ARE)-containing mRNAs. In A549 pulmonary cells, TTP mRNA and both a ∼40- and a ∼45-kDa phosphorylated version of TTP protein were rapidly induced in response to interleukin (IL)-1β. Analysis with IκBαΔN, a dominant version of inhibitor of κBα (IκBα), as well as dominant-negative and small-molecule IκB kinase (IKK) inhibitors demonstrated that IL-1β-induced TTP is nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-dependent. Likewise, TTP expression and formation of the ∼45-kDa phosphorylated form of TTP are blocked by the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor 4-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(4-methylsulfinylphenyl)-5-(4-pyridyl)1H-imidazole (SB203580). By contrast, and despite a 3- to 4-fold induction of TTP mRNA, the anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid dexamethasone only modestly induced expression of the ∼40-kDa form of TTP. In the context of IL-1β, dexamethasone exerted a marginal repressive effect on TTP mRNA expression and more considerably reduced TTP protein. Given a requirement for p38 MAPK in the induction of TTP by IL-1β, this repressive effect may be explained by repression of the p38 MAPK pathway by dexamethasone. Knockdown of TTP protein by siRNA elevated IL-1β-induced expression of granulocyte macrophage–colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and IL-8, demonstrating a role for TTP in feedback control. Likewise, knockdown of TTP increased GM-CSF expression in the presence of IL-1β plus dexamethasone, suggesting that feedback control by TTP also occurs in the context of IL-1β plus dexamethasone. Taken together, our data demonstrate that NF-κB and p38 MAPK are critical to the induction of TTP by IL-1β and that TTP induction provides feedback control of the ARE-containing genes GM-CSF and IL-8. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -