Egr Family Members Regulate Nonlymphoid Expression of Fas Ligand, TRAIL, and Tumor Necrosis Factor during Immune Responses

The Fas ligand (FasL)/Fas pathway is crucial for homeostasis of the immune system and peripheral tolerance. Peripheral lymphocyte deletion involves FasL/Fas in at least two ways: coexpression of both Fas and its ligand on T cells, leading to activation-induced cell death, and expression of FasL by nonlymphoid cells, such as intestinal epithelial cells (IEC), that kill Fas-positive T cells. We demonstrate here that superantigen Staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB) induced a dramatic upregulation of FasL, TRAIL, and TNF mRNA expression and function in IEC from BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Using adoptive transfer in which CD4⁺ T cells from OT-2 T-cell receptor transgenic mice were transferred into recipients, we observed an induction in IEC of FasL, TRAIL, and TNF mRNA after administration of antigen. Specific Egr-binding sites have been identified in the 5′ promoter region of the FasL gene, and Egr-1, Egr-2, and Egr-3 mRNA in IEC from mice treated with SEB and from transgenic OT-2 mice after administration of antigen was upregulated. Overexpression of Egr-2 and Egr-3 induced endogenous ligand upregulation that was inhibited by overexpression of Egr-specific inhibitor Nab1. These results support a role for Egr family members in nonlymphoid expression of FasL, TRAIL, and TNF.