Interleukin-6-induced tethering of STAT3 to the LAP/C/EBPbeta promoter suggests a new mechanism of transcriptional regulation by STAT3

LAP/C/EBPbeta is a member of the C/EBP family of transcription factors and contributes to the regulation of the acute phase response in hepatocytes. Here we show that IL-6 controls LAP/C/EBPbeta gene transcription and identify an IL-6 responsive element in the LAP/C/EBPbeta promoter, which contains no STAT3 DNA binding motif. However, luciferase reporter gene assays showed that STAT3 activation through the gp130 signal transducer molecule is involved in mediating IL-6-dependent LAP/C/EBPbeta transcription. Southwestern analysis indicated that IL-6 induces binding of a 68-kDa protein to the recently characterized CRE-like elements in the LAP/C/EBPbeta promoter. Transfection experiments using promoter constructs with mutated CRE-like elements revealed that these sites confer IL-6 responsiveness. Further analysis using STAT1/STAT3 chimeras identified specific domains of the protein that are required for the IL-6-dependent increase in LAP/C/EBPbeta gene transcription. Overexpression of the amino-terminal domain of STAT3 blocked the IL-6-mediated response, suggesting that the STAT3 amino terminus has an important function in IL-6-mediated transcription of the LAP/C/EBPbeta gene. These data lead to a model of how tethering STAT3 to a DNA-bound complex contributes to IL-6-dependent LAP/C/EBPbeta gene transcription. Our analysis describes a new mechanism by which STAT3 controls gene transcription and which has direct implication for the acute phase response in liver cells.