scholarly journals Cholesterol and bile acids regulate cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase expression at the transcriptional level in culture and in transgenic mice.

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 2809-2821 ◽  
Author(s):  
M I Ramirez ◽  
D Karaoglu ◽  
D Haro ◽  
C Barillas ◽  
R Bashirzadeh ◽  
...  

Cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (7 alpha-hydroxylase) is the rate-limiting enzyme in bile acid biosynthesis. It is subject to a feedback control, whereby high levels of bile acids suppress its activity, and cholesterol exerts a positive control. It has been suggested that posttranscriptional control plays a major part in that regulation. We have studied the mechanisms by which cholesterol and bile acids regulate expression of the 7 alpha-hydroxylase gene and found it to be solely at the transcriptional level by using two different approaches. First, using a tissue culture system, we localized a liver-specific enhancer located 7 kb upstream of the transcriptional initiation site. We also showed that low-density lipoprotein mediates transcriptional activation of chimeric genes, containing either the 7 alpha-hydroxylase or the albumin enhancer in front of the 7 alpha-hydroxylase proximal promoter, to the same extent as the in vivo cholesterol-mediated regulation of 7 alpha-hydroxylase mRNA. In a second approach, using transgenic mice, we have found that expression of an albumin enhancer-7 alpha-hydroxylase-lacZ fusion gene is restricted to the liver and is regulated by cholesterol and bile acids in a manner quantitatively similar to that of the endogenous gene. We also found, that a liver-specific enhancer is necessary for expression of the rat 7 alpha-hydroxylase gene, in agreement with the tissue culture experiments. Together, these results demonstrate that cholesterol and bile acids regulate the expression of the 7 alpha-hydroxylase gene solely at the transcriptional level.

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 2809-2821
Author(s):  
M I Ramirez ◽  
D Karaoglu ◽  
D Haro ◽  
C Barillas ◽  
R Bashirzadeh ◽  
...  

Cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (7 alpha-hydroxylase) is the rate-limiting enzyme in bile acid biosynthesis. It is subject to a feedback control, whereby high levels of bile acids suppress its activity, and cholesterol exerts a positive control. It has been suggested that posttranscriptional control plays a major part in that regulation. We have studied the mechanisms by which cholesterol and bile acids regulate expression of the 7 alpha-hydroxylase gene and found it to be solely at the transcriptional level by using two different approaches. First, using a tissue culture system, we localized a liver-specific enhancer located 7 kb upstream of the transcriptional initiation site. We also showed that low-density lipoprotein mediates transcriptional activation of chimeric genes, containing either the 7 alpha-hydroxylase or the albumin enhancer in front of the 7 alpha-hydroxylase proximal promoter, to the same extent as the in vivo cholesterol-mediated regulation of 7 alpha-hydroxylase mRNA. In a second approach, using transgenic mice, we have found that expression of an albumin enhancer-7 alpha-hydroxylase-lacZ fusion gene is restricted to the liver and is regulated by cholesterol and bile acids in a manner quantitatively similar to that of the endogenous gene. We also found, that a liver-specific enhancer is necessary for expression of the rat 7 alpha-hydroxylase gene, in agreement with the tissue culture experiments. Together, these results demonstrate that cholesterol and bile acids regulate the expression of the 7 alpha-hydroxylase gene solely at the transcriptional level.


Endocrinology ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 145 (2) ◽  
pp. 574-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor A. B. Drover ◽  
Luis B. Agellon

Abstract Thyroid hormones exert significant changes in the metabolism of bile acids. However, in humans, the effect of thyroid hormone on cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (cyp7a), the rate- controlling enzyme in the classical bile acid biosynthetic pathway, remains poorly understood and has been difficult to study directly in vivo. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that the activity of the human cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase gene promoter is repressed by T3 in cultured cells. Accordingly, we hypothesized that T3 would negatively regulate human CYP7A1 gene expression in vivo. We tested this hypothesis by inducing hypo- and hyperthyroidism in transgenic mice expressing the human CYP7A1 gene. Hypothyroidism did not affect the abundance of human cyp7a mRNA in transgenic mice. In hyperthyroid male mice, human cyp7a mRNA abundance was decreased. No significant change in cyp7a mRNA abundance was observed in hyperthyroid female mice. Gender differences in the amount of cholesterol and bile acids in gallbladder bile were also observed. The data indicate that thyroid hormone can repress the human CYP7A1 gene in transgenic mice, but this effect is dependent on gender in this in vivo model.


Author(s):  
Baochi Ou ◽  
Hongze Sun ◽  
Jingkun Zhao ◽  
Zhuoqing Xu ◽  
Yuan Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Polo-like kinase 3 (PLK3) has been documented as a tumor suppressor in several types of malignancies. However, the role of PLK3 in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and glucose metabolism remains to be known. Methods The expression of PLK3 in CRC tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry. Cells proliferation was examined by EdU, CCK-8 and in vivo analyses. Glucose metabolism was assessed by detecting lactate production, glucose uptake, mitochondrial respiration, extracellular acidification rate, oxygen consumption rate and ATP production. Chromatin immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter assays and co-immunoprecipitation were performed to explore the signaling pathway. Specific targeting by miRNAs was determined by luciferase reporter assays and correlation with target protein expression. Results PLK3 was significantly downregulated in CRC tissues and its low expression was correlated with worse prognosis of patients. In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that PLK3 contributed to growth inhibition of CRC cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that PLK3 impeded glucose metabolism via targeting Hexokinase 2 (HK2) expression. Mechanically, PLK3 bound to Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and facilitated its degradation, which led to a significant decrease of phosphorylated STAT3. The downregulation of p-STAT3 further suppressed the transcriptional activation of HK2. Moreover, our investigations showed that PLK3 was directly targeted by miR-106b at post-transcriptional level in CRC cells. Conclusion This study suggests that PLK3 inhibits glucose metabolism by targeting HSP90/STAT3/HK2 signaling and PLK3 may serve as a potential therapeutic target in colorectal cancer.


Blood ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 2168-2174 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Castellanos ◽  
B. Pintado ◽  
E. Weruaga ◽  
R. Arévalo ◽  
A. López ◽  
...  

Abstract BCR-ABLp190 oncogene is the result of a reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22 and is associated with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) in humans. Current models expressing the BCR-ABLp190 chimeric gene fail to consistently reproduce the phenotype with which the fusion gene is associated in human pathology, mainly due to the difficulty of being expressed in the appropriate cell type in vivo. We have used here homologous recombination in ES cells to create an in-frame fusion of BCR-ABLp190 that mimics the consequences of the human chromosomal translocation by fusion of BCR-ABL coding sequences into the bcr endogenous gene. The chimeric mice generated with the mutant embryonic stem cells systematically develop B-ALL. Using these chimeric mice, we further show that BCR-ABL oncogene does not require the endogenous bcr product in leukemogenesis. Our results show that BCR-ABLp190 chimeric mice are a new model to study the biology of the BCR-ABL oncogene and indicate the efficacy of this strategy for studying the role of specific chromosome abnormalities in tumor development.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 4666-4679 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Reeves ◽  
W. J. Leonard ◽  
M. S. Nissen

ABSTRACT Transcriptional induction of the interleukin-2 receptor alpha-chain (IL-2Rα) gene is a key event regulating T-cell-mediated immunity in mammals. In vivo, the T-cell-restricted protein Elf-1 and the general architectural transcription factor HMG-I(Y) cooperate in transcriptional regulation of the human IL-2Rα gene by binding to a specific positive regulatory region (PRRII) in its proximal promoter. Employing chromatin reconstitution analyses, we demonstrate that the binding sites for both HMG-I(Y) and Elf-1 in the PRRII element are incorporated into a strongly positioned nucleosome in vitro. A variety of analytical techniques was used to determine that a stable core particle is positioned over most of the PRRII element and that this nucleosome exhibits only a limited amount of lateral translational mobility. Regardless of its translational setting, the in vitro position of the nucleosome is such that DNA recognition sequences for both HMG-I(Y) and Elf-1 are located on the surface of the core particle. Restriction nuclease accessibility analyses indicate that a similarly positioned nucleosome also exists on the PRRII element in unstimulated lymphocytes when the IL-2Rα gene is silent and suggest that this core particle is remodeled following transcriptional activation of the gene in vivo. In vitro experiments employing the chemical cleavage reagent 1,10-phenanthroline copper (II) covalently attached to its C-terminal end demonstrate that HMG-I(Y) protein binds to the positioned PRRII nucleosome in a direction-specific manner, thus imparting a distinct architectural configuration to the core particle. Together, these findings suggest a role for the HMG-I(Y) protein in assisting the remodeling of a critically positioned nucleosome on the PRRII promoter element during IL-2Rα transcriptional activation in lymphocytes in vivo.


2008 ◽  
Vol 200 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsumori Segawa ◽  
Morihiro Matsuda ◽  
Atsunori Fukuhara ◽  
Kentaro Morita ◽  
Yosuke Okuno ◽  
...  

Adiponectin is exclusively expressed in adipose tissue and secreted from adipocytes, and shows anti-diabetic and anti-atherogenic properties. However, the precise transcriptional mechanism of adiponectin remains elusive. In this study, the 5′ flanking promoter region of human adiponectin gene was analyzed using UCSC genome browser, and a 10 390-bp fragment, containing an evolutionally conserved region among species, was investigated. The luciferase reporter assay using this fragment identified a novel distal enhancer of human adiponectin gene. Promoter constructs with the distal enhancer exhibited high promoter activities in 3T3-L1 mature adipocytes. However, no such activity was observed in other types of cell lines. The distal enhancer is highly conserved, and contains two completely conserved CCAAT boxes. In 3T3-L1 mature adipocytes, deletion or each point mutation of these CCAAT boxes markedly reduced luciferase activity driven by adiponectin promoter. Knockdown of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α (CEBPA; also known as C/EBPα) using small interfering RNA diminished adiponectin mRNA expression and luciferase activity driven by adiponectin promoter with the distal enhancer. However, adiponectin promoter with each mutation of two CCAAT boxes in the distal enhancer did not respond to knockdown of CEBPA expression. Furthermore, CEBPA bound to the distal enhancer both in vitro and in vivo. We also identified a proximal promoter region responsible for transcriptional activation by the distal enhancer in human adiponectin gene. Our results indicate that CEBPA plays a pivotal role in the transcription of human adiponectin gene via the distal enhancer and proximal region in its promoter.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 74-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Chesi ◽  
Kruti Naik ◽  
Davide F. Robbiani ◽  
Maurizio Affer ◽  
Helen D. Nickerson ◽  
...  

Abstract Approximately 15% of multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by a t(4;14) translocation that causes the simultaneous dysregulation of MMSET on der(4) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene (FGFR3) on der(14). We reported several lines of evidence indicating a role for FGFR3 in myeloma tumorigenesis. First, activated FGFR3 is an oncogene capable of transforming fibroblasts. Second, FGFR3 activating mutations are acquired by MM cells during tumor progression. Third, targeted inhibition of FGFR3 leads to terminal differentiation and apoptosis in two t(4;14) MM cell lines. However, expression of FGFR3, but never of MMSET, is lost in about 25% of t(4;14) MM. Therefore, the overexpression of MMSET in all MM tumors with a t(4;14) translocation, and its homology to MLL, the oncogene on 11q23 translocated in acute leukemia suggest a critical role for MMSET in MM. To determine whether MMSET is an oncogene in vivo, we have generated transgenic mice in which MMSET expression in driven in lymphocytes by the lck proximal promoter juxtaposed to the Emu enhancer. Using the same expression vector we and others have obtained specific, high levels of transgene expression in B and T cells from spleen, bone marrow and thymus. Four transgenic lines were generated and although we detected MMSET expression in T cells in each of them, unexpectedly no expression in B cells was seen. This is consistent with our inability to ectopically express MMSET in B cell lines. Nevertheless B lymphoid tumors expressing MMSET developed at 23 month of age in each line (18/51 mice). Only 1/19 wild type matching control mice developed a splenomegaly. By Southern blot, monoclonal rearrangements of IgH, IgL and TCR β were detected within the same tumor population. In conclusion, this is the first report that MMSET is an oncogene capable of transforming lymphoid cells in an animal model. We are currently crossing these mice with FGFR3 transgenic mice to assess cooperation between these two oncogenes in tumorigenesis. Obviously a more restricted expression of MMSET in germinal center cells is required to investigate the role of MMSET in MM. Therefore, as we have done for c-myc, we are generating new transgenic mice in which MMSET expression will be activated sporadically in germinal center B cells by somatic hypermutation.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 2096-2103 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Zimmerman ◽  
E Legouy ◽  
V Stewart ◽  
R Depinho ◽  
F W Alt

The N-myc gene is expressed specifically in the early developmental stages of numerous cell lineages. To assay for sequences that could potentially regulate N-myc expression, we transfected constructs that contained murine N-myc genomic sequences linked to a reporter gene and genomic clones that contained the complete human or murine N-myc genes into cell lines that either express or do not express the endogenous N-myc gene. Following either transient or stable transfection, the introduced N-myc sequences were expressed regardless of the expression status of the endogenous gene. In contrast, when the clones containing the complete human N-myc gene were introduced into the germline of transgenic mice, expression in some transgenic lines paralleled the tissue- and stage-specific expression of the endogenous murine gene. These findings demonstrate differences in the regulation of N-myc genes in recipient cells following in vitro versus in vivo introduction, suggesting that early developmental events may play a role in the regulation of N-myc expression.


1996 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
pp. 1163-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Braghetta ◽  
C Fabbro ◽  
S Piccolo ◽  
D Marvulli ◽  
P Bonaldo ◽  
...  

To identify regions involved in tissue specific regulation of transcription of the alpha1(VI) collagen chain, transgenic mice were generated carrying various portions of the gene's 5'-flanking sequence fused to the E. coli beta-galactosidase gene. Analysis of the transgene expression pattern by X-gal staining of embryos revealed that: (a) The proximal 0.6 kb of promoter sequence activated transcription in mesenchymal cells at sites of insertion of superficial muscular aponeurosis into the skin; tendons were also faintly positive. (b) The region between -4.0 and -5.4 kb from the transcription start site was required for activation of the transgene in nerves. It also drove expression in joints, in intervertebral disks, and in subepidermal and vibrissae mesenchyme. (c) The fragment comprised within -6.2 and -7.5 kb was necessary for high level transcription in skeletal muscle and meninges. Positive cells in muscle were mostly mononuclear and probably included connective tissue elements, although staining of myoblasts was not ruled out. This fragment also activated expression in joints, in intervertebral disks, and in subepidermal and vibrissae mesenchyme. (d) beta-Galactosidase staining in vibrissae induced by the sequences -4.0 to -5.4 and -6.2 to -7.5 was not coincident: with the latter sequence labeled nuclei were found mainly in the ventral and posterior quadrant, and, histologically, in the outer layers of mesenchyme surrounding and between the follicles, whereas with the former the remaining quadrants were positive and expressing cells were mostly in the inner layers of the dermal sheath. (e) Other tissues, notably lung, adrenal gland, digestive tract, which produce high amounts of collagen type VI, did not stain for beta-galactosidase. (f) Central nervous system and retina, in which the endogenous gene is inactive, expressed the lacZ transgene in most lines. The data suggest that transcription of alpha1(VI) in different tissues is regulated by distinct sequence elements in a modular arrangement, a mechanism which confers high flexibility in the temporal and spatial pattern of expression during development.


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