Antisense Cyclic Adenosine 5'-monophosphate Response Element Modulator Up-regulates IL-2 in T Cells from Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The cAMP response element modulator (CREM) has been shown to bind specifically to the -180 site of the IL-2 promoter in vitro. CREM protein is increased in T cells of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and it has been considered responsible for the decreased production of IL-2. In this work we show that transcriptional up-regulation is responsible for the increased CREM protein levels and that CREM binds to the IL-2 promoter in live SLE T cells. Suppression of the expression of CREM mRNA and protein by an antisense CREM plasmid, which was force expressed in SLE T cells by electroporation, resulted in decreased CREM protein binding to the IL-2 promoter and increased expression of IL-2 mRNA and protein. Our data demonstrate that antisense constructs can be used to effectively eliminate the expression of a transcriptional repressor. This approach can be used therapeutically in conditions where increased production of IL-2 is desired.