Augmentation of haptoglobin production in Hep3B cell line by a nuclear factor NF‐IL6

The nuclear factor NF‐IL6 had been suggested to be responsible for the IL‐6‐mediated induction of several acute‐phase proteins. To obtain evidence for the involvement of NF‐IL6 in the induction of acute‐phase proteins, we introduced the NF‐IL6 gene and its truncated mutant (delNFIL6) gene into a hepatoma cell line Hep3B. Then, we examined the effect of the overproduced NF‐IL6 and delNFIL6 on the expression of haptoglobin, fibrinogen and albumin. As a result, basal production as well as induction of haptoglobin by IL‐6 were augmented by the expression of NF‐IL6, whereas delNFIL6 blocked the production of haptoglobin, fibrinogen and albumin.