Proteasome inhibition up-regulates inflammatory gene transcription induced by an atypical pathway of NF-kappaB activation.

Proteasome inhibition has become synonymous with inhibition of NF-kappaB activity. However, hyperactive NF-kappaB responses often accompany physiological conditions marked by proteasomal defects, i.e. advancing age, geriatric diseases, and bortezomib resistance. These paradoxical NF-kappaB responses are likely to be impervious to proteasomal defects because they stem from atypical NF-kappaB signaling induced by upstream mechanisms which are proteasome-independent. While this atypical pathway does not require proteasome for NF-kappaB nuclear translocation, a role for proteasome in regulating nuclear NF-kappaB remains unexplored. We now demonstrate that proteasome stringently controls transcription of inflammatory mediators regulated by this atypical NF-kappaB pathway. Proteolytic activity of the proteasome mediates the removal of the NF-kappaB subunit, p65/RelA, from inflammatory genes, thereby terminating atypical NF-kappaB-dependent transcriptional responses. For the first time, we demonstrate that both 19S and 20S components of the 26S proteasome complex are recruited to an inflammatory gene promoter; additionally, the 19S and 20S complexes appear to play distinct roles in the negative regulation of NF-kappaB-dependent transcription. By demonstrating that proteasome regulates the termination of atypical NF-kappaB-dependent transcriptional responses, these studies clearly indicate a novel, regulatory role for proteasome in atypical NF-kappaB signaling. Moreover, these results signal a potential interplay between lowered proteasomal function and increased inflammation and may explain why inflammation accompanies physiological conditions under which proteasomal function is compromised, such as during advancing age or following bortezomib treatment. Given this role for proteasome in inflammation resolution, restoration of proteasome function may constitute a novel mechanism for intervening in chronic inflammatory diseases. 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.