Glucocorticoid-attenuated response genes encode intercellular mediators, including a new C-X-C chemokine.

A major part of the anti-inflammatory effect of glucocorticoids is attributable to their attenuation of the induction of genes whose products mediate intercellular interactions, e.g. cytokines and the inducible forms of prostaglandin synthase and nitric oxide synthase. We hypothesized that (i) there exists a class of immediate-early/primary response genes whose induction by inflammatory agents, mitogens, and other stimuli is attenuated by glucocorticoids, and (ii) the products of these glucocorticoid-attenuated response genes (GARGs) function predominantly in paracrine cell processes. We constructed a lambda cDNA library from transforming growth factor beta 1-pretreated murine Swiss 3T3 cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or serum in the presence of cycloheximide, screened 15,000 plaques by differential hybridization, and cloned 12 LPS-induced, dexamethasone-attenuated cDNAs. Seven were previously known. Six of these encode intercellular mediators (thrombospondin-1, MCSF, JE/MCP-1, MARC/fic/MCP-3, crg2/IP-10, and cyr61); one encodes a protein of unknown function (IRG2). Thus, a large majority of these GARG cDNAs encode intercellular mediators, as hypothesized. Of the five GARG cDNAs not previously known, one encodes a novel member of the CXC chemokine family, designated LIX (LPS-induced CXC chemokine). The predicted LIX protein has a 40-amino acid signal sequence and a 92-amino acid mature peptide with a distinctive COOH-terminal region. Surprisingly, segments of the 3'-untranslated regions of LIX and two other CXC chemokines have substantially greater nucleotide sequence homology than do their coding regions. These segments may perform an unknown regulatory function. The LIX message is strongly induced by LPS in fibroblasts, but not in macrophages, suggesting that LIX may participate in the recruitment of inflammatory cells by injured or infected tissue.