IFN-gamma and IFN-beta independently stimulate the expression of lipopolysaccharide-inducible genes in murine peritoneal macrophages.

We have recently described the isolation and characterization of a set of cDNA encoding genes whose expression is induced or enhanced in murine peritoneal macrophages by treatment with LPS. In the present report we have analyzed the expression of the mRNA which hybridize with these cDNA probes in macrophages treated with other cytokines known to modulate functional activity. Three distinct patterns of expression have been documented. Two genes (D3 and C7) are inducible by LPS, IFN-gamma, and IFN-beta; D3 is comparably sensitive to all three, whereas C7 is more sensitive to LPS and IFN-gamma than to IFN-beta. The mRNA encoded by D8 is expressed in response to LPS and IFN-beta but not in response to IFN-gamma. Finally the gene encoded by D5 is inducible only in cells treated with LPS. The expression of all three cytokine-inducible mRNA was both dose and time dependent and was mediated by increased transcriptional activity of the genes. As with stimulation by LPS, the expression induced by IFN was independent of protein synthesis and occurred in a rapid and transient fashion. TNF-alpha had little or no detectable effect on any of the genes by themselves. The expression of C7, however, could be induced synergistically by treatment with a combination of TNF-alpha and either IFN-gamma of IFN-beta. The expression of these genes was not specific for macrophages as both IFN were able to induce a comparable pattern of gene expression in BALB/c 3T3 cells. Treatment of macrophages with dexamethasone inhibited LPS-induced C7 and D8 expression but did not affect that seen in response to IFN-gamma or IFN-beta, respectively. The results suggest that IFN and LPS act to modulate early gene expression by the generation of at least three overlapping but distinct signaling pathways. In some cases the pathway(s) which mediate response to LPS appear to be mechanistically distinct from those which mediate response to IFN-beta or IFN-gamma. The spectrum of stimuli and cell types which express these and other early genes suggest that they may play an important role in orchestration of the inflammatory response.