The transcription factor C/EBPβ is essential for inducible expression of the cox-2 gene in macrophages but not in fibroblasts

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is the rate-limiting enzyme for the inducible synthesis of prostaglandins, and its up-regulated activity is thought to play a pathological role in diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Regulation of COX-2 expression is complex and appears to involve diversified mechanisms in different cell types and conditions. Here we make use of immortalized macrophages and fibroblasts that we have generated from C/EBP beta -deficient mice to directly test and compare the specific role played by this factor in inducible COX-2 expression in these two cell types. We could demonstrate that COX-2 mRNA induction and promoter activity were profoundly impaired in C/EBP beta (-/-) macrophages and could be rescued by expression of C/EBP beta. The obligatory role of C/EBP beta in COX-2 expression appeared to be mediated exclusively by the C/EBP element located at positions -138/-130 of the murine cox-2 promoter; and did not involve altered activity at the level of the other promoter elements described previously (the -402/-392 NF-kappaB site, the -59/-48 CRE/E box element, and a potential second C/EBP site located at positions -93/-85). In contrast, COX-2 induction was completely normal in C/EBP beta -deficient fibroblasts, thus highlighting the diversity of cell-specific molecular mechanisms in determining inducible COX-2 expression and prostaglandins production.