The p65 (RelA) Subunit of NF-κB Interacts with the Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) Corepressors HDAC1 and HDAC2 To Negatively Regulate Gene Expression

Abstract

Regulation of NF-κB transactivation function is controlled at several levels, including interactions with coactivator proteins. Here we show that the transactivation function of NF-κB is also regulated through interaction of the p65 (RelA) subunit with histone deacetylase (HDAC) corepressor proteins. Our results show that inhibition of HDAC activity with trichostatin A (TSA) results in an increase in both basal and induced expression of an integrated NF-κB-dependent reporter gene. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays show that TSA treatment causes hyperacetylation of the wild-type integrated NF-κB-dependent reporter but not of a mutant version in which the NF-κB binding sites were mutated. Expression of HDAC1 and HDAC2 repressed tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-induced NF-κB-dependent gene expression. Consistent with this, we show that HDAC1 and HDAC2 target NF-κB through a direct association of HDAC1 with the Rel homology domain of p65. HDAC2 does not interact with NF-κB directly but can regulate NF-κB activity through its association with HDAC1. Finally, we show that inhibition of HDAC activity with TSA causes an increase in both basal and TNF-induced expression of the NF-κB-regulated interleukin-8 (IL-8) gene. Similar to the wild-type integrated NF-κB-dependent reporter, ChIP assays showed that TSA treatment resulted in hyperacetylation of the IL-8 promoter. These data indicate that the transactivation function of NF-κB is regulated in part through its association with HDAC corepressor proteins. Moreover, it suggests that the association of NF-κB with the HDAC1 and HDAC2 corepressor proteins functions to repress expression of NF-κB-regulated genes as well as to control the induced level of expression of these genes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank D. Ayer, S. Schrieber, E. Seto, C. Glass, and R. Evans for providing plasmids used in this work and D. Guttridge for providing the NIH 3T3 cells with the stable wild-type and mutant 3XκB-Luc reporters. We also thank D. Guttridge for critical review of the manuscript and the members of the Baldwin lab for many helpful discussions.

This work was supported by Public Health Service grants to A.S.B. (AI35098 and CA 73756) from the National Cancer Institute. B.P.A. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Cancer Research Institute. S.D.W. was supported by American Cancer Society grant PF-00-023-01-MGO.