Reactivation of apolipoprotein II gene transcription by cycloheximide reveals two steps in the deactivation of estrogen receptor-mediated transcription

Ectopic Methylation of a Single Persistently Unmethylated CpG in the Promoter of the Vitellogenin Gene Abolishes Its Inducibility by Estrogen through Attenuation of Upstream Stimulating Factor Binding

The enhancer/promoter of the vitellogenin II gene (VTG) has been extensively studied as a model system of vertebrate transcriptional control. While deletion mutagenesis and in vivo footprinting identified the transcription factor (TF) binding sites governing its tissue specificity, DNase hypersensitivity and DNA methylation studies revealed the epigenetic changes accompanying its hormone-dependent activation. Moreover, upon induction with estrogen (E₂), the region flanking the estrogen-responsive element (ERE) was reported to undergo active DNA demethylation. We now show that although the VTG ERE is methylated in embryonic chicken liver and in LMH/2A hepatocytes, its induction by E₂ was not accompanied by extensive demethylation. In contrast, E₂ failed to activate a VTG enhancer/promoter-controlled luciferase reporter gene methylated by SssI. Surprisingly, this inducibility difference could be traced not to the ERE but rather to a single CpG in an E-box (CACGTG) sequence upstream of the VTG TATA box, which is unmethylated in vivo but methylated by SssI. We demonstrate that this E-box binds the upstream stimulating factor USF1/2. Selective methylation of the CpG within this binding site with an E-box-specific DNA methyltransferase, Eco72IM, was sufficient to attenuate USF1/2 binding in vitro and abolish the hormone-induced transcription of the VTG gene in the reporter system.

p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and PI3-kinase are involved in up-regulation of mu opioid receptor transcription induced by cycloheximide

Despite several decades of efforts to develop safer, efficacious, and non-addictive opioids for pain treatment, morphine remains the most valuable painkiller in contemporary medicine. Morphine and endogenous mu opioid peptides exert their pharmacological actions mainly through the mu opioid receptor (MOR). Analgesic effects of opioids in animals are dependent on the MOR expression levels, as demonstrated by studies of MOR-knockout mice (homo/heterozygotes) and MOR-less expressing mice. Surprisingly, in the course of our investigation to understand the mechanisms involved in the regulation of MOR gene expression, cycloheximide (CHX), a known protein synthesis inhibitor, markedly induced accumulation of MOR mRNAs in both MOR-negative and -positive cells. This induction was blocked by inhibitors of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-K) and p38 MAPK, but not by a p42/44 MAPK inhibitor. In vitro, CHX was found to activate the MOR promoter and this activation was suppressed by inhibition of PI3-K. The transcriptional activator Sox18 was recruited to the MOR promoter in CHX-treated cells and this recruitment was also inhibited by the PI3-K and p38 MAPK inhibitors, Ly294002 and SB203580, respectively. Consistently, acetylation of histone H3 and induction of H3-K4 methylation were detected while reductions of histone deacetylase 2 binding and H3-K9 methylation were observed on the promoter. Furthermore, the MOR mRNA accumulation was almost completely inhibited in the presence of actinomycin-D, indicating that this effect occurs mainly through activation of the transcriptional machinery. These observations suggest that CHX directly induces MOR gene transcription by recruiting the active transcription factor Sox18 to the MOR promoter through PI3- and/or p38 MAPK pathways.

Positive and negative regulation of chicken anemia virus transcription

Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is a small circular single-stranded DNA virus with a single promoter-enhancer region containing four consensus cyclic AMP response element sequences (AGCTCA), which are similar to the estrogen response element (ERE) consensus half-sites (A)GGTCA. These sequences are arranged as direct repeats, an arrangement that can be recognized by members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. Transient-transfection assays which use a short CAV promoter construct that ended at the transcription start site and drive expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) showed high basal activity in DF-1, LMH, LMH/2A, and primary theca and granulosa cells. The estrogen receptor-enhanced cell line, LMH/2A, had significantly greater expression than LMH cells, and this expression was significantly increased with estrogen treatment. A long promoter construct which included GGTCA-like sequences downstream of the first CAV protein translation start site was found to have significantly less EGFP expression in DF-1 cells than the short promoter, which was largely due to decreased RNA transcription. DNA-protein binding assays indicated that proteins recognizing a consensus ERE palindrome also bind GGTCA-like sequences in the CAV promoter. Estrogen receptor and other members of the nuclear receptor superfamily may provide a mechanism to regulate CAV activity in situations of low virus copy number.

A protein that interacts with members of the nuclear hormone receptor family: identification and cDNA cloning

In search of proteins which interact with activated steroid hormone receptors, we screened a human liver lambda gt11 expression library with the glucocorticoid receptor. We identified and cloned a cDNA sequence of 1322 bp that encodes a protein of 274 aa. This protein consists predominantly of hydrophilic amino acids and contains a putative bipartite nuclear localization signal. The in vitro translated receptor-associating protein runs in SDS/polyacrylamide gels with an apparent molecular mass of 46 kDa. By use of the bacterially expressed fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase we have found that interaction is not limited to the glucocorticoid receptor but included other nuclear receptors--most notably, the estrogen and thyroid receptors. Binding also occurs with the glucocorticoid receptor complexed with the antiglucocorticoid RU 38486, with the estrogen receptor complexed with the antiestrogen 4-hydroxytamoxifen or ICI 164,384, and even with receptors not complexed with ligand. Association with steroid hormone receptors depends on prior receptor activation--i.e., release from heat shock proteins. The sequence identified here appears to be a general partner protein for nuclear hormone receptors, with the gene being expressed in a variety of mammalian tissues.

cIRF-3, a new member of the interferon regulatory factor (IRF) family that is rapidly and transiently induced by dsRNA

In mammals, some of the effects of interferon (IFN) on gene transcription are known to be mediated by a family of IFN-inducible DNA-binding proteins, the IFN regulatory factor (IRF) family, which includes both activators and repressors of transcription. Although IFN activities have been described in many vertebrates, little is known about regulation of IFN- or IFN-stimulated genes in species other than human and mouse. Here, we report the cloning of a chicken cDNA, cIRF-3, encoding a protein with a DNA-binding domain similar to that found in the mammalian IRF family of proteins. Similarity between cIRF-3 and the mammalian IRFs is comparable with that between known members of the family. It is most similar to the IRF proteins ICSBP and ISGF3 gamma but is equally divergent from both. Gel mobility shift assays indicate that cIRF-3 is capable of binding a known IFN-stimulated response element that is conserved between the mammalian and chicken Mx genes. Expression of the cIRF-3 gene can be induced to high levels by poly(I).poly(C). Induction is rapid and transient with no requirement for protein synthesis. Co-treatment of cells with cycloheximide results in superinduction of cIRF-3 mRNA. The structural and regulatory characteristics of cIRF-3 indicate that it is the first example of a non-mammalian IRF protein.

Interactions among regulators of RNA abundance characterized using RNA fingerprinting by arbitrarily primed PCR

Using RNA fingerprinting by arbitrarily primed PCR it is possible to infer convergent transcript regulatory pathways from the coordinate behavior of subsets of anonymous transcripts without cloning any genes. The number of transcripts in each response category can be estimated. The same may be true for differential display. We demonstrate these claims by treating a cell line with two known modulators of RNA abundance, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) and cycloheximide (CX), used together and alone. The responses of over 1700 anonymous transcripts were monitored under these three conditions and in an untreated control. Eight of the twenty-seven [3(3)] possible transcript response categories were observed among 86 differentially expressed transcripts. For example, CX stabilizes or induces as many as 2.7% of transcripts of which about one third do not accumulate when TGF beta is also present. This intersection may reflect CX stabilization or induction of an important class of RNAs that otherwise usually have short half-lives. We predict that RNAs in this class constitute the majority of transcripts targeted for rapid down regulation in response to TGF beta and perhaps most other natural transcriptional modulators.

Interaction of proteins with transcriptionally active estrogen receptors

The ligand binding domain of the estrogen receptor contains a hormone-dependent transcriptional activation function. To investigate the mechanism by which it stimulates transcription, we have expressed fusion proteins containing either the wild-type or a transcriptionally defective form of this domain fused to glutathione-S-transferase and searched for proteins that specifically interact in vitro. By far-Western blotting, three proteins of 160, 140, and 80 kDa expressed in different mammalian cells (HeLa, ZR75-1, and COS-1) were shown to associate directly with the wild-type receptor in the presence of estrogen. Two additional proteins appeared to interact indirectly with the hormone binding domain since they were detected only by a pull-down assay. All of these interactions were abolished by antiestrogens, such as 4-hydroxytamoxifen, ICI 164384, or ICI 182780, which inhibit hormone-dependent transcription. Moreover, they were not observed with the transcriptionally defective form of the receptor even in the presence of estrogen. Thus, since the ability of these proteins to interact with the hormone binding domain correlates with its transcriptional activity, one or more of them may contribute to hormone-dependent transcriptional activation by the estrogen receptor.