Glucocorticoid-mediated repression of nuclear factor-κB- dependent transcription involves direct interference with transactivation

摘要

Glucocorticoids exert multiple anti-inflam- matory activities, one of which is the inhibition of transcrip- tion dependent on the nuclear factor (NF)-κB. It has been suggested that the effect of dexamethasone (DEX), a glucocor- ticoid analog, is attributed to an increased production of the inhibitory IκB molecule, which in turn would bind and remove activated, DNA-bound NF-κB complexes in the cell nucleus. Upon investigating DEX-mediated repression of interleukin-6 expression induced by tumor necrosis factor, DEX treatment was found to act directly on NF-κB-dependent transcription, without changing the expression level of IκB.