Nitric oxide regulates interleukin-8 gene expression in activated endothelium by inhibiting NF-κB binding to DNA:: effects on endothelial function

Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) binds to nucleotide sequences between -80 and -70 bp upstream of the transcriptional start site in the interleukin-8 (IL-8) promoter and is crucial for transcription of the IL-8 gene, We showed that exogenous nitric oxide in the form of a-nitric oxide donor significantly reduced IL-8 mRNA in cytokine-activated ECV304. Similarly, nitric oxide significantly:reduced migration of polymorphonuclear neutrophils through cytokine-activated ECV304 monolayers, an IL-8-dependent process. Using a luciferase reporter construct containing the NF-kappa B site of the IL-8 gene, we showed that exposing cytokine-activated ECV304 to exogenous nitric oxide resulted in significant reduction of NF-kappa B binding. Follow-up studies using a luciferase reporter construct possessing a mutated NF-kappa B site confirmed that the luciferase activity observed in the NF-kappa B reporter resulted from NF-kappa B binding. These studies demonstrate that nitric oxide, supplied exogenously into reactions containing activated endothelium, downregulates pro-inflammatory activity, such as the secretion of chemokines, and functional activity, such as transendothelial migration of neutrophils.