Universality of c-fos transcriptional regulation: the Dyad Symmetry Element mediates activation by PMA in T lymphocytes

Activation of c-fos expression by transforming Ha-ras in HC11 mouse mammary epithelial cells is PKC-dependent and mediated by the serum response element

The mechanism by which transforming Ha-ras induces c-fos expression in HC11 mouse mammary epithelial cells was investigated with regard to controversial data concerning the role of protein kinase C (PKC) and the required promoter elements of the fos gene. HC11 cells carrying a glucocorticoid-inducible Ha-ras (val12) construct were transfected with a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene under the control of a human fos promoter which includes the serum response element (SRE), the adjacent c-fos AP-1 site (FAP) and the cAMP response element (CRE). Induction of the Ha-ras gene by dexamethasone lead to a transactivation of expression of the transfected fos promoter construct which was inhibited by the PKC inhibitor BM41440 and abrogated in PKC-'depleted' cells. A similar transactivation was observed when the fos promoter construct was co-transfected with a constitutively active ras expression vector. Again, this effect was depressed by the PKC inhibitor and abolished in PKC-'depleted' cells. 'PKC-depletion' was achieved by long-term exposure to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. This procedure was shown to deplete cells of PKC alpha and to reduce significantly PKC epsilon. Long-term exposure to bryostatin 1 selectively depletes PKC alpha. Depletion of PKC alpha by bryostatin 1 does not reduce the transcriptional activation of the SRE-FAP-TK-CAT (TK: thymidine kinase) construct by Ha-ras. In order to delineate the promoter elements mediating the transcriptional activation, constructs which lack the FAP and the CRE sites but contain an intact SRE were co-transfected with the ras construct. Elimination of the FAP and CRE sequences did not affect the transcriptional activation by Ha-ras (val12). It is concluded that in HC11 cells, transforming Ha-ras activates c-fos expression in a PKC-dependent manner, presumably implying PKC epsilon, and that the SRE is sufficient to mediate transcriptional activation.

Role of protein kinase C in ras-mediated fos-expression

HC-11 mouse mammary epithelial cells stably transfected with a glucocorticoid-inducible Ha-ras construct encoding a transforming (val12) p21Ha-ras were cotransfected with a c-fos-CAT construct containing the human c-fos promoter up to position -711 and the CAT reporter gene. Expression of Ha-ras by dexamethasone leads to a transcriptional activation of the fos-CAT construct which was found to be sensitive to the PKC inhibitor ilmofosine (BM41440) and abrogated by PKC depletion following long-term exposure to TPA. The responsiveness to Ha-ras is retained if only the portion of the fos promoter covering the serum response element (SRE) and the adjacent fos AP-1 (FAP) site are put in front of a CAT gene linked to a thymidine kinase (TK) promoter. Further depletion of the FAP-site does not affect the inducibility by Ha-ras. Transcriptional activation of the SRE-FAP-TK-CAT as well as the SRE-TK-CAT constructs by Ha-ras is sensitive to the PKC-inhibitor ilmofosine (BM41440) and blocked by long-term exposure to TPA. Long-term exposure to TPA depletes cells of PKC alpha and significantly reduces the PKC epsilon levels. Long-term exposure in bryostatin 1 selectively depletes PKC alpha. Depletion of PKC alpha by bryostatin 1 does not reduce the transcriptional activation of the SRE-FAP-TK-CAT-construct by Ha-ras. It is concluded that (i) transforming Ha-ras induces c-fos in HC-11 cells via PKC (presumably epsilon), (ii) the signal is mediated to the serum response element (SRE) of the fos promoter and (iii) the fos AP-1 (FAP) site is not required for this mechanism.