Transcriptional activation of the rat vesicular monoamine transporter 2 promoter in gastric epithelial cells: regulation by gastrin

Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 is important for the accumulation of monoamine neurotransmitters into synaptic vesicles and histamine transport into secretory vesicles of the enterochromaffin-like cell of the gastric corpus. In this study we have investigated the mechanisms regulating the transcriptional activation of the rat vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) promoter in gastric epithelial cells. Maintenance of basal levels of transcription was dependent on the presence of SP1, cAMP-response element (CRE), and overlapping AP2/SP1 consensus sequences within the region of promoter from -86 to +1 base pairs (bp). Gastrin stimulation increased transcriptional activity, and responsiveness was shown to be dependent on the CRE (-33 to -26 bp) and AP2/SP1 (-61 to -48 bp) consensus sites but independent of the SP1 site at -86 to -81 bp. Gastrin-induced transcription was dependent on the cooperative interaction of an uncharacterized nuclear factor of approximately 23.3 kDa that bound to the putative AP2/SP1 site, CRE-binding protein (CREB), and CREB-binding protein/p300. Gastrin stimulation resulted in the increased binding of phosphorylated CREB to the promoter, but it did not result in the increased binding of the AP2/SP1-binding protein. The gastrin responsiveness of the promoter was shown to be dependent on both the protein kinase C and mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase-signaling pathways, which may converge on the AP2/SP1-binding protein.

Control of CCK gene transcription by PACAP in STC-1 cells

The mechanisms by which neuroendocrine stimulants regulate CCK gene transcription are unclear. We examined promoter activation by pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), a known CCK secretagogue, in the enteroendocrine cell line STC-1. The promoter region from -70 to -87 bp, relative to the transcriptional start site, contains a composite calcium/cyclic AMP response element (CRE)/activator protein 1 (AP1) site that may bind CRE binding protein (CREB) and AP1. PACAP (with IBMX) stimulated expression of an 87-bp construct 3.35+/-0.36-fold but had no effect on a -70 construct. The effect was blocked by the protein kinase A inhibitor H-89 and by a dominant-negative CREB plasmid. Mutation of the CRE/AP1 site to a canonical CRE site did not affect the response to PACAP, but mutation to a canonical AP1 site prevented it. CREB phosphorylation was increased after PACAP treatment. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay and supershift analysis revealed that CREB and not AP1 bound to the CRE/AP1 site and that PACAP increased the proportion of phosphorylated CREB that was bound. We conclude that PACAP increases CCK gene expression via a cAMP-mediated pathway involving CREB phosphorylation by protein kinase A and activation of a composite CRE/AP1 site.

Control of c-fos expression in STC-1 cells by peptidomimetic stimuli

Enteroendocrine cells respond to nutrient and non-nutrient stimuli in the gut lumen. The intestinal hormone cholecystokinin (CCK) is secreted in response to luminal fatty acids, amino acids, peptides and proteins. The peptidomimetic cephalosporins have been reported to provide model, stable, compounds with similar secretagogue activity to peptide. Putative luminal stimuli also influence transcriptional activity in enteroendocrine cells, but the mechanisms are uncertain. In the present study we have investigated the control of c-fos expression in STC-1 cells (an enteroendocrine cell line). Peptidomimetics stimulated calcium-dependent release of CCK, and increased intracellular calcium, phosphorylation of p42/44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) and c-fos mRNA abundance. Hypotonic stress also increased p42/44 MAP kinase phosphorylation and c-fos mRNA, but not CCK release. The increase in c-fos mRNA was strikingly potentiated by peptidomimetics in hypotonic medium. Increased c-fos expression, but not CCK release, was suppressed by the MAP kinase (MEK) inhibitor PD98059, and by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein. We conclude that in STC-1 cells, peptidomimetics act through the p42/44 MAP kinase pathway to increase c-fos expression but not exocytosis. Moreover, a putative non-nutritive stimulus, hypotonic stress, may interact with this pathway to enhance c-fos expression, independently of hormone release.

Transcriptional activation of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 in the pre-B cell line Ea3.123

Uptake and storage of monoamines in secretory granules is accomplished by vesicular monoamine transporters, and it is likely that vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) is important for histamine transport in vivo. In the present study we have used the pre-B-cell line Ea3.123 to investigate the mechanisms involved in the transcriptional activation of the VMAT2 gene. In Ea3.123 cells, VMAT2 mRNA abundance was increased following mobilization of intracellular calcium, and this increased mRNA expression was paralleled by changes in l-histidine decarboxylase mRNA, suggesting that VMAT2 may be responsible for sequestration of histamine into secretory vesicles in this cell line. We cloned the 5'-flanking region of the VMAT2 gene and determined its transcriptional start site by primer extension of rat VMAT2 mRNA. There was no TATA or TATA-like sequence upstream of this region; instead there were GC-rich elements, Ca2+/cAMP-response-element- and SP1-binding motifs. Approx. 900 bp upstream of the transcriptional start site was a purine-pyrimidine repeat sequence that may form a Z-DNA structure. A series of 5'-deletional VMAT2-promoter segments cloned upstream of a luciferase reporter were capable of driving transcription and indicated the presence of multiple regulatory elements, while stimulation with ionomycin or PMA resulted in an increased level of the transcriptional activity of the 5'-promoter segments studied.