Creation of an anti-inflammatory GR cistrome by TLR4 signaling

An unresolved molecular paradox is how the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activates some genes while potently repressing others. We carried out genome-wide localization and expression profiling experiments in primary bone marrow-derived mouse macrophages treated with Dexamethasone in the presence or absence of LPS. Unexpectedly, we find that the anti-inflammatory GR cistrome, which is principally composed of 'canonical' GREs colocalizing with NFkB and AP-1 co-enriched with the myeloid lineage factors C/EBP and Pu.1, is shaped by TLR4-directed chromatin dynamics, suggesting that context rather than sequence may be a critical determinant of function. Identification of GR, cJun, NFkB(p65) binding sites in primary bone-marrow derived macrophages unstimulated and LPS-stimulated (3hrs) that were untreated or pre-treated with Dexamethasone for 16 hrs