Transcription factor NF-κB regulates inducible CD83 gene expression in activated T lymphocytes

The immunoglobulin superfamily member CD83 is expressed on the surface of mature dendritic cells that present processed antigens to T lymphocytes. In addition, T cells acquire CD83 expression following mitogenic stimulation in vitro. Here we report two lines of evidence demonstrating that this inducible lymphocyte response is genetically programmed by transcription factor NF-κB and contingent upon proteolytic breakdown of its cytoplasmic inhibitor IκBα. First, signal-dependent induction of CD83 mRNA expression is blocked in both transformed and primary T cells harboring a degradation-resistant mutant of IκBα that constitutively represses NF-κB. Second, as revealed in gel retardation assays, the IκBα constitutive repressor prevents the inducible interaction of NF-κB with consensus recognition sites identified in the CD83 promoter. Given that IκBα is functionally coupled to the T-cell antigen receptor, these findings suggest that the downstream transcription unit for CD83 is triggered by NF-κB during an adaptive immune response.