Up-regulation of Acid Sphingomyelinase during Retinoic Acid-induced Myeloid Differentiation of NB4, a Human Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Cell Line

Abstract

All-<i>trans</i>-retinoic acid (ATRA) induces myeloid differentiation of a human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, NB4, but does not affect its subclone NB4/RA harboring a point-mutated ligand-binding domain (AF2) in <i>retinoic acid receptor</i> α (<i>RAR</i>α) gene. We found that ATRA induced the 4-fold elevation of acid sphingomyelinase (ASMase) activity 24 h after treatment in NB4 cells, but not in NB4/RA cells. ATRA did not affect neutral sphingomyelinase activity in either NB4 or NB4/RA. Upon treatment with ATRA, ceramide, the product of an ASMase reaction, accumulated in NB4 cells. Northern blot analysis showed a marked elevation of the <i>ASMase</i> mRNA 8 h after ATRA treatment, reaching a plateau at 24 h. Regulation of<i>ASMase</i> gene expression was studied by a promoter analysis using luciferase reporter assay. The 5′-upstream flanking region of human <i>ASMase</i> gene (−519/+300) conjugated with the<i>luciferase</i> gene was introduced into COS-7 cells. Luciferase activity in transformed cells markedly increased in response to ATRA stimulation when the wild type RARα or the PML/RARα hybrid protein was co-expressed. Deletion experiments revealed that a short sequence at the 5′-end (−519/−485) was indispensable for the ATRA response. Within this short region, two retinoic acid-responsive element-like motifs (TGCCCG and TCTCCT) and one AP2-like motif (CCCTTCCC) were identified. Deletion and base-substitution experiments showed that all three motifs are required for the full expression induced by ATRA. Electrophoresis mobility shift assays with the nuclear extract of ATRA-treated NB4 cells showed that proteins were bound specifically to the probe being mediated by all three motifs in the promoter sequence.