Summary
Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is the zymogen form of a basic
carboxypeptidase (TAFIa) with both anti-fibrinolytic and anti-inflammatory properties.
The role of TAFI in inflammatory disease is multifaceted and involves modulation both
of specific inflammatory mediators as well as of the behaviour of inflammatory cells.
Moreover, as suggested by in vitro studies, inflammatory mediators are capable of regulating the expression of CPB2, the gene encoding TAFI. In this study we addressed the hypothesis that decreased
TAFI levels observed in inflammation are due to post-transcriptional mechanisms. Treatment
of human HepG2 cells with pro-inflammatory cytokines TNFα, IL-6 in combination with
IL-1β, or with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) decreased TAFI protein levels by
approximately two-fold over 24 to 48 hours of treatment. Conversely, treatment of
HepG2 cells with the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 increased TAFI protein levels
by two-fold at both time points. We found that the mechanistic basis for this modulation
of TAFI levels involves binding of tristetraprolin (TTP) to the CPB2 3′-UTR, which mediates CPB2 mRNA destabilisation. In this report we also identified that HuR, another ARE-binding
protein but one that stabilises transcripts, is capable of binding the CBP2 3’UTR. We found that pro-inflammatory mediators reduce the occupancy of HuR on the
CPB2 3’-UTR and that the mutation of the TTP binding site in this context abolishes this
effect, although TTP and HuR appear to contact discrete binding sites. Interestingly,
all of the mediators tested appear to increase TAFI protein expression in THP-1 macrophages,
likewise through effects on CPB2 mRNA stability.
Keywords
Fibrinolysis inhibitors - inflammatory mediators - gene regulation - liver