Inhibitor of nuclear factor kappaB kinase deficiency enhances oxidative stress and prolongs c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase activation induced by arsenic.

Stress signals activate both inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappaB kinase (IKKbeta) and c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK). It was shown recently that IKK-dependent nuclear factor kappaB activation results in attenuation of tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced JNK activation. How that negative cross-talk between nuclear factor kappaB and JNK occurs is not well-understood. By using wild-type and Ikkbeta gene knockout (Ikkbeta(-/-)) mouse embryo fibroblasts, we found that IKKbeta deficiency results in prolongation of arsenic-induced JNK activation, which was not due to the decreased expression of GADD45beta or X-linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis (XIAP), as suggested previously for RelA(-/-) cells treated with tumor necrosis factor alpha. This enhanced JNK activation was largely associated with an oxidative stress response as indicated by elevated expression of heme oxygenase-1 and the accumulation of H(2)O(2) in Ikkbeta(-/-) cells. Expression profiling experiments revealed an increased expression of p450 family CYP1B1 mRNA in Ikkbeta(-/-) cells compared with wild-type cells. Inhibition of CYP1B1 reduced both oxidative stress and arsenic-stimulated JNK activation. Thus, increased CYP1B1 expression is central to and seems to be responsible for sensitizing Ikkbeta(-/-) cells to stress-induced JNK activation.