The human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 1 gene (TRAF1) is up-regulated by cytokines of the TNF ligand family and modulates TNF-induced activation of NF-kappaB and c-Jun N-terminal kinase.

To understand how the TNF receptor-associated factor 1 (TRAF1) is transcriptionally regulated, in vitro DNA binding assays, promoter-reporter gene assays, and RNase protection assays were performed with the human TRAF1 gene. Binding of NF-kappaB to three of five putative binding sites within the human TRAF1 promoter was found in electrophoretic mobility shift assay studies, and analysis of TRAF1 gene promoter luciferase constructs confirmed the functional importance of these elements. Moreover, triggering of TNF-R1, CD40, and the interleukin-1 receptor resulted in transcription of the TRAF1 gene, whereas receptors that are not activators or only poor activators of NF-kappaB in HeLa cells failed to show a significant TRAF1 induction. Because it has been shown that members of the TRAF family are involved in activation of NF-kappaB and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) by the interleukin-1 receptor and members of the TNF receptor superfamily, a role of TRAF1 in receptor cross-talk and/or feedback regulation of activated receptor signaling complexes can be suggested. In fact, we found that TNF-induced activation of JNK is prolonged in transfectants overexpressing TRAF1, whereas overexpression of a deletion mutant of TRAF1 in which the N-terminal part had been replaced by the green fluorescent protein interfered with TNF-induced activation of NF-kappaB and JNK.

Protein kinase Cmu downregulation of tumor-necrosis-factor-induced apoptosis correlates with enhanced expression of nuclear-factor-kappaB-dependent protective genes.

Protein kinase Cmu (PKCmu) represents a new subtype of the PKC family characterized by the presence of a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain and an amino-terminal hydrophobic region. In order to analyse the potential role of PKCmu in signal-transduction pathways, stable PKCmu transfectants were established with human and murine cell lines. All transfectants showed a reduced sensitivity to tumor-necrosis-factor (TNF)-induced apoptosis, which correlated with the amount of transgene expressed and with an enhanced basal transcription rate of NF-kappaB-driven genes including the inhibitor of apoptosis protein 2 (cIAP2) and TNF-receptor-associated protein 1 (TRAF1). Sensitivity to apoptosis induced by the lipid mediator ceramide was unchanged in PKCmu transfectants. In support of a PKCmu action on NF-kappaB, we show enhancement and downregulation of TNF-induced expression of a NF-kappaB-dependent reporter gene by transient overexpression of wild-type and kinase-negative mutants of PKCmu, respectively. Interestingly, no significant changes were found in an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, indicative of PKCmu action downstream of IkappaB degradation, probably by modulation of the transactivation capacity of NF-kappaB. The dominant negative action of the kinase-negative mutant further suggest a regulatory role of PKCmu for NF-kappaB-dependent gene expression.

TNFR80-dependent enhancement of TNFR60-induced cell death is mediated by TNFR-associated factor 2 and is specific for TNFR60.

Costimulation of TNFR80 can strongly enhance TNFR60-induced cell death. In this study, we show that this enhancement is TNFR60 selective, as neither TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand/Apo2 ligand-, Apo1/Fas-, ceramide-, nor daunorubicin-mediated cell death was affected by costimulation of TNFR80. We further demonstrate that TNFR-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) is critically involved in both negative and positive regulation of TNF-induced cell death. Overexpression of TRAF2 and of a TRAF2 mutant, deficient in nuclear factor-kappaB activation, selectively desensitized and enhanced, respectively, TNFR60-induced cell death in HeLa cells. However, upon costimulation of TNFR80, which mediates activation of nuclear factor-kappaB and the c-Jun amino-terminal kinase via TRAF2, TNF-induced cell death is drastically enhanced in parental and TRAF2-transfected, but not in TRAF2 (87-501)-transfected cells. These data point to a critical role of TRAF2 in the apoptotic TNFR cross talk, whereby the TNFR80-dependent enhancement of TNFR60-induced cell death is due to TNFR80-mediated negative regulation of TRAF2 function(s). An interference with TRAF2 function was confirmed independently by analysis of c-Jun amino-terminal kinase activation via TNFR60 upon prestimulation of TNFR80. We propose that the apoptotic TNFR cross talk is based on TNFR80-mediated abrogation of antiapoptotic TRAF2-dependent signaling pathways initiated by TNFR60, but not Apo1/Fas or the apoptotic TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptors.

Dominant-negative FADD inhibits TNFR60-, Fas/Apo1- and TRAIL-R/Apo2-mediated cell death but not gene induction.

Fas/Apo1 and other cytotoxic receptors of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) family contain a cytoplasmic death domain (DD) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] that activates the apoptotic process by interacting with the DD-containing adaptor proteins TNFR-associated DD protein (TRADD) [12] [13] and Fas-associated DD protein (FADD/MORT1) [14] [15], leading to the activation of cysteine proteases of the caspase family [16]. Stimulation of Fas/Apo1 leads to the formation of a receptor-bound death-inducing signaling complex (DISC), consisting of FADD and two different forms of caspase-8 [17] [18] [19]. Transient expression of a dominant-negative mutant of FADD impairs TNFR60-mediated and Fas/Apo1-mediated apoptosis [13] [20], but has no effect on TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL/Apo2L)-induced cell death [7] [8] [9] [10] [21]. To study the function of FADD in DD-receptor signaling in more detail, we established HeLa cells that stably expressed a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged dominant-negative mutant of FADD, GFP-DeltaFADD. Interestingly, expression of this mutant inhibited cell death induced by TNFR60, Fas/Apo1 and TRAIL-R/Apo2. In addition, GFP-DeltaFADD did not interfere with TNF-mediated gene induction or with activation of NF-kappaB or Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), demonstrating that FADD is part of the TNFR60-initiated apoptotic pathway but does not play a role in TNFR60-mediated gene induction. Fas/Apo1-mediated activation of JNK was unaffected by the expression of GFP-DeltaFADD, suggesting that in Fas/Apo1 signaling the apoptotic pathway and the activation of JNK diverge at a level proximal to the receptor, upstream of or parallel to FADD.

Organization of the human tumour necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 1 (TRAF1) gene and mapping to chromosome 9q33-34.

A new family of signal transducing proteins, associated with members of the tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily, has recently been identified. The structural hallmark of these molecules is a novel C-terminal homology region of 230 bp designated as TRAF (TNF receptor-associated factor) domain, which is involved in a variety of specific protein-protein interactions. To elucidate the human TRAF1 gene structure for identification of potential regulatory elements, a set of genomic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragments was generated, which comprised the whole coding region of TRAF1. These fragments were cloned and partially sequenced to map splicing sites. The human TRAF1 gene was found to have a total length of approx. 12 kb. It is split into six exons, four of which encode for parts of the TRAF domain. Analysis of the genomic structure of the TRAF domains of human TRAF2 and 3 suggests that these domains are also encoded by several exons. The putative promotor region of the TRAFI gene was isolated by use of a PCR-based genomic walking approach. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to map this gene to chromosome 9q33-34.