Strain Difference of DNA-Binding Activity of NF-κB and Cytokine Gene Expression in Spleen Dendritic Cells of Lewis and Fischer Rats

Abstract

To investigate the mechanisms of different responses to inflammatory stimuli between Lewis and Fischer rats, the DNA-binding activity of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and cytokine production of spleen dendritic cells (SDC) in Lewis and Fischer rats after peptidoglycan-polysaccharide (PG-PS) treatment were determined. The results show that the DNA-binding activities of NF-kappaB in SDC were higher in Lewis rats than in Fischer rats. Furthermore, in Lewis rats, the increase in NF-kappaB DNA-binding activities was dose-dependent. However, there is no significant change in SDC of Fischer rats. In Lewis rats, the levels of IL-2 and IL-4 were decreased along with the increase of the concentration of PG-PS while TNF-alpha was increased. However, there was no obvious change of cytokine expression in Fischer rats in the presence of PG-PS. In conclusion, these findings indicate that the differences in the DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB and cytokine production might mediate strain-specific differences of susceptibility to chronic inflammatory stimuli in Lewis and Fischer rats.