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The AT-rich region between −54 to −66 is important for the promoter activity of interleukin-10 in Epstein–Barr virus positive Burkitt’s lymphoma cells

Abstract

IL-10 is an important regulatory cytokine. The recent characterization of the 5′-flanking region of IL-10 led to the identification of the promoter region. The infection of B cells with EBV induces IL-10 production which may contribute to EBV-induced transformation. In the present report, IL-10 promoter elements involved in the constitutive expression of IL-10 in EBV-positive lymphoma cells are described. The AT-rich region between −54/−66 from the transcriptional start site was found to be important for IL-10-promoter activity in BL36. A point mutation at position −60 (T/A) was associated with over 90% reduction of luciferase activity in the cell lines BL36 and BL74. The conversion of A/T at position −57 led to enhanced promoter activity. In addition the AT-rich region could serve as an enhancer for the β-globin basic promoter. In BJAB cells (EBV-negative), sequences between −205/−139 rather than the AT-rich region were involved in IL-10 promoter regulation. This underlines the importance of the AT-rich region for EBV-associated IL-10 promoter regulation. Our results further the understanding of how the IL-10 gene could be regulated in B cell lymphomas.

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Correspondence to D Kube.

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Dieter Kube and Hans Tesch are grateful to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 502) and the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie (01KS 9502, Zentrum für Molekulare Medizin Köln) for their generous support.

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Kube, D., Laser, H., von Knethen, A. et al. The AT-rich region between −54 to −66 is important for the promoter activity of interleukin-10 in Epstein–Barr virus positive Burkitt’s lymphoma cells. Genes Immun 1, 105–114 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6363641

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6363641

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