Collagen transcription and lung fibrosis

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Certain lung injuries induce large increases in connective tissue content, particularly collagen, resulting in fibrosis. During injury, cells are exposed to molecules such as interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), regulating production of matrix components. Clinical trials for interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are ongoing. However, very little is understood concerning collagen repression by this mediator. This project focuses on establishing the mechanisms by which collagen transcription is repressed by IFN- gamma. We have recently described a regulatory factor for X-box (RFX) binding site at the collagen transcription start site. RFX1 represses collagen transcription. RFX1 interacts with and activates c-Abl, a non- receptor tyrosine kinase that can phosphorylate itself, RFX1 and the carboxyl domain of RNA polymerase II (CTD). C-Abl interacts with RFX1 at the collagen transcription start site. This proposal determines whether c-Abl participates in signal transduction pathways leading to decreased collagen synthesis. RFX5 forms a complex at the collagen transcription start site when RFX1 is removed. IFN-gamma induces class II transcription activator (CIITA) which interacts with RFX5 forming a complex with two other proteins that activate major histocompatibility class II proteins (MHC-II). Since IFN-gamma represses collagen synthesis, we hypothesize that RFX proteins mediate collagen transcription repression during IFN-gamma treatment. Our overall hypothesis is that IFN-gamma repression occurs on the collagen promoter by cooperative interactions of RFX protein family members at the start site with other proteins binding to the proximal promoter. The specific aims are to; 1) Determine the function and interactions of RFX family before and after IFN-gamma treatment. 2) Examine the functional interactions of c-Abl with RFX proteins at the collagen transcription start site. 3) Examine the localization and kinase activity of c-Abl and RFX in lung fibroblasts under different treatments and in samples of human lung tissue. 4) Use transgenic animals with collagen-promoter-CAT constructs or animals deficient in c-Abl or RFX5 complex to investigate collagen transcriptional regulation during fibrosis and treatment.