TNF-alpha and 9-cis-retinoic acid synergistically induce ICAM-1 expression: evidence for interaction of retinoid receptors with NF-kappa B.

TNF-alpha and 9-cis-retinoic acid (9-cis-R) synergistically enhance ICAM-1 protein expression in immortalized human aortic endothelial cells (HAECTs). At a TNF-alpha concentration of 0.1 ng/ml, 1 microM 9-cis-R enhanced ICAM-1 protein expression 4-fold. Treatment with 1 microM 9-cis-R alone caused no induction of ICAM-1 expression. Functional analysis of human ICAM-1 promoter-luciferase constructs revealed that the synergism was attributable to transcriptional regulation. Expression of a luciferase reporter vector containing a 311-bp fragment of the ICAM-1 promoter (-252 to + 59 bp relative to the transcriptional start site) was increased 2.9- and 4.9-fold by treatment with 9-cis-R and TNF-alpha, respectively, while cotreatment with 9-cis-R and TNF-alpha induced expression to 19.9-fold. Mutation studies revealed that RARE and NF-kappa B sites located respectively at -226 and -188 bp relative to the transcription start site are essential for the synergistic control of promoter activity. Mutation of either the RARE or the NF-kappa B site eliminated the synergistic enhancement of promoter activity. Moreover, mutation of the RARE abrogated promoter activity induced by treatment with TNF-alpha alone and mutation of the NF-kappa B site eliminated promoter activity induced by treatment with 9-cis-R alone. We conclude that retinoid receptors and NF-kappa B act in concert at the promoter level to facilitate ICAM-1 expression in endothelial cells.