To study the mechanism of induction of human C-reactive protein (CRP) gene expression, we have utilized an in vitro liver cell system to analyze the cis-acting DNA sequences located within the 5'-flanking region of human CRP gene. Stable transfection of human hepatoma cells, PLC/PRF/5, by a CRP gene construct containing the 1 kilobase pair of upstream sequence of the CRP gene demonstrated that this region contained the inducible element(s) which regulated human CRP gene transcription. Dissection of this region by 5', 3' and internal deletion constructs of upstream region of the CRP gene fused to a reporter gene, chloramphenicol acetyl transferase, indicated the presence of two inducible elements located proximal to the site of initiation of transcription, two constitutive enhancer-like elements located distal to the promoter, and a negative regulatory region located between the two inducible elements. We had previously shown that a protein factor from monocytes or HTLV1-infected T-cells, was responsible for CRP induction in hepatoma cells. We have found this factor to be synonymous with interleukin-6. By stable and transient transfection assays in hepatoma cells, recombinant interleukin-6 alone was sufficient to activate both inducible elements.