SNW1, a Novel Transcriptional Regulator of the NF-κB Pathway

The nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) family of transcription factors plays a central role in coordinating the expression of genes that control inflammation, immune responses, cell proliferation, and a variety of other biological processes. In an attempt to identify novel regulators of this pathway, we performed whole-genome RNA interference (RNAi) screens in physiologically relevant human macrophages in response to lipopolysaccharide and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). The top hit was SNW1, a splicing factor and transcriptional coactivator. SNW1 does not regulate the cytoplasmic components of the NF-kappa B pathway but complexes with the NF-kappa B heterodimer in the nucleus for transcriptional activation. We show that SNW1 detaches from its splicing complex (formed with SNRNP200 and SNRNP220) upon NF-kappa B activation and binds to NF-kappa B's transcriptional elongation partner p-TEFb. We also show that SNW1 is indispensable for the transcriptional elongation of NF-kappa B target genes such as the interleukin 8 (IL-8) and TNF genes. SNW1 is a unique protein previously shown to be involved in both splicing and transcription, and in this case, its role involves binding to the NF-kappa B-p-TEFb complex to facilitate transcriptional elongation of some NF-kappa B target genes.