A Rho Exchange Factor Mediates fMet-Leu-Phe-induced NF-κB Activation in Human Peripheral Blood Monocytes

Abstract

We reported previously that fMLP stimulates NF-κB activation, and this function of fMLP requires small GTPase RhoA in human peripheral blood monocytes (Huang, S., Chen, L.-Y., Zuraw, B. L., Ye, R. D., and Pan, Z. K. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 40977-40981). Here we present evidence that RhoA associates specifically with the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Lbc in human peripheral blood monocytes stimulated with fMLP and that Lbc specifically catalyzes the guanine nucleotide exchange activity of RhoA in human peripheral blood monocytes. Cotransfection of the monocytic THP1 cells with lbc with a κB promoter reporter plasmid results in a marked increase in NF-κB-mediated reporter gone expression. Finally, Lbc-enhanced NF-κB activation is inhibited by a RhoA inhibitor, C3 transferase from Clostridium botulinum. A dominant-negative form of RhoA (T19N) also inhibited Lbc-enhanced reporter gene expression in a κB-dependent manner. These results indicate that guanine nucleotide exchange factor Lbc is a novel signal transducer for RhoA-mediated NF-κB activation in human peripheral blood monocytes stimulated with bacterial products.