Uncovering an IL-10-dependent NF-κB recruitment to the IL-1ra promoter that is impaired in STAT3 functionally defective patients

The interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) is an important negative regulator of the inflammatory response, whose genetic deficiency has been recently shown to cause a severe autoinflammatory syndrome in humans. In this study we characterized the molecular mechanisms whereby interleukin 10 (IL-10) potentiates IL-1ra transcription in LPS-stimulated monocytes and neutrophils. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, we show that although NF-κBp65 and NF-κBp50 proteins accumulate into the nuclei and bind to the IκBα promoter during LPS stimulation, they are not recruited to the κB sites of the IL-1ra promoter. However, in response to LPS plus IL-10, which were found to induce chromatin acetylation, recruitment of both NF-κBp65 and NF-κBp50 to the IL-1ra promoter efficiently occurs in a STAT3-dependent manner. Accordingly, in neutrophils from hyper-IgE syndrome patients, who carry a nonfunctional STAT3, IL-10 failed to promote NF-κBp65 recruitment to the IL-1ra promoter and consequently to potentiate LPS-induced IL-1ra transcription. Altogether our findings uncover a novel mechanism whereby IL-10-activated STAT3 modulates IL-1ra transcription in LPS-treated phagocytes by making IL-1ra promoter accessible to readily available nuclear NF-κB. © FASEB.