scholarly journals Mutations in the conserved C-terminal sequence in thyroid hormone receptor dissociate hormone-dependent activation from interference with AP-1 activity.

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 4687-4695 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Saatcioglu ◽  
G Lopez ◽  
B L West ◽  
E Zandi ◽  
W Feng ◽  
...  

A short C-terminal sequence that is deleted in the v-ErbA oncoprotein and conserved in members of the nuclear receptor superfamily is required for normal biological function of its normal cellular counterpart, the thyroid hormone receptor alpha (T3R alpha). We carried out an extensive mutational analysis of this region based on the crystal structure of the hormone-bound ligand binding domain of T3R alpha. Mutagenesis of Leu398 or Glu401, which are surface exposed according to the crystal structure, completely blocks or significantly impairs T3-dependent transcriptional activation but does not affect or only partially diminishes interference with AP-1 activity. These are the first mutations that clearly dissociate these activities for T3R alpha. Substitution of Leu400, which is also surface exposed, does not affect interference with AP-1 activity and only partially diminishes T3-dependent transactivation. None of the mutations affect ligand-independent transactivation, consistent with previous findings that this activity is mediated by the N-terminal domain of T3R alpha. The loss of ligand-dependent transactivation for some mutants can largely be reversed in the presence of GRIP1, which acts as a strong ligand-dependent coactivator for wild-type T3R alpha. There is excellent correlation between T3-dependent in vitro association of GRIP1 with T3R alpha mutants and their ability to support T3-dependent transcriptional activation. Therefore, GRIP1, previously found to interact with the glucocorticoid, estrogen, and androgen receptors, may also have a role in T3R alpha-mediated ligand-dependent transcriptional activation. When fused to a heterologous DNA binding domain, that of the yeast transactivator GAL4, the conserved C terminus of T3R alpha functions as a strong ligand-independent activator in both mammalian and yeast cells. However, point mutations within this region have drastically different effects on these activities compared to their effect on the full-length T3R alpha. We conclude that the C-terminal conserved region contains a recognition surface for GRIP1 or a similar coactivator that facilitates its interaction with the basal transcriptional apparatus. While important for ligand-dependent transactivation, this interaction surface is not directly involved in transrepression of AP-1 activity.

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 3042-3049
Author(s):  
G Lopez ◽  
F Schaufele ◽  
P Webb ◽  
J M Holloway ◽  
J D Baxter ◽  
...  

We have characterized the putative AP1 site in the backbone of pUC plasmids and found unique regulatory effects. The site, which mapped to a 19-bp region around nucleotide 37, conferred transcriptional activation by Jun or Jun/Fos that was boosted up to fivefold by unliganded thyroid hormone receptor (TR). Thyroid hormone changed potentiation of the Jun response by TR into repression. Although the plasmid sequence is a near-perfect consensus AP1 site, the perfect consensus AP1 site from the human collagenase promoter did not show the same effects. Deletion of the ligand binding domain of the TR eliminated the ability of the receptor to boost Jun activity, and deletion, mutation, or changes in specificity of the DNA binding domain eliminated both its ability to potentiate Jun activity and repress with hormone. In vitro Jun/Fos complexes bound the operative plasmid fragment, and the presence of TR interfered very little with Jun/Fos binding activity. Protein interaction studies in the absence of DNA showed that TR bound Jun protein in solution either in the presence or in the absence of hormone. These observations suggest a mechanism for synergy and repression by TR through modulation of Jun activity: positive when TR is unliganded, and negative when hormone is bound. They also suggest that the presence of the plasmid element can confound studies of the regulation of linked promoters.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 3042-3049 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Lopez ◽  
F Schaufele ◽  
P Webb ◽  
J M Holloway ◽  
J D Baxter ◽  
...  

We have characterized the putative AP1 site in the backbone of pUC plasmids and found unique regulatory effects. The site, which mapped to a 19-bp region around nucleotide 37, conferred transcriptional activation by Jun or Jun/Fos that was boosted up to fivefold by unliganded thyroid hormone receptor (TR). Thyroid hormone changed potentiation of the Jun response by TR into repression. Although the plasmid sequence is a near-perfect consensus AP1 site, the perfect consensus AP1 site from the human collagenase promoter did not show the same effects. Deletion of the ligand binding domain of the TR eliminated the ability of the receptor to boost Jun activity, and deletion, mutation, or changes in specificity of the DNA binding domain eliminated both its ability to potentiate Jun activity and repress with hormone. In vitro Jun/Fos complexes bound the operative plasmid fragment, and the presence of TR interfered very little with Jun/Fos binding activity. Protein interaction studies in the absence of DNA showed that TR bound Jun protein in solution either in the presence or in the absence of hormone. These observations suggest a mechanism for synergy and repression by TR through modulation of Jun activity: positive when TR is unliganded, and negative when hormone is bound. They also suggest that the presence of the plasmid element can confound studies of the regulation of linked promoters.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3675-3685
Author(s):  
F Saatcioglu ◽  
P Bartunek ◽  
T Deng ◽  
M Zenke ◽  
M Karin

The thyroid hormone (T3) receptor type alpha, the c-ErbA alpha proto-oncoprotein, stimulates transcription of T3-dependent promoters, interferes with AP-1 activity, and induces erythroid differentiation in a ligand-dependent manner. The v-ErbA oncoprotein does not bind hormone and has lost all of these activities. Using c-ErbA/v-ErbA chimeras, we found that a deletion of 9 amino acids, conserved among many members of the nuclear receptor superfamily, which are located at the extreme carboxy terminus of c-ErbA alpha is responsible for loss of both transactivation and transcriptional interference activities. Single, double, and triple amino acid substitutions within this region completely abolished T3-dependent transcriptional activation, interference with AP-1 activity, and decreased T3 binding by c-ErbA alpha. However, the lower T3 binding by these mutants does not fully account for the loss of transactivation and transcriptional interference, since a c-ErbA/v-ErbA chimera which was similarly reduced in T3 binding activity has retained both of these functions. Deletion of homologous residues in the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR alpha) resulted in a similar loss of transactivation and transcriptional interference activities. The ability of c-ErbA alpha to induce differentiation of transformed erythroblasts is also impaired by all of the mutations introduced into the conserved carboxy-terminal sequence. We conclude that this 9-amino-acid conserved region is essential for normal biological function of c-ErbA alpha and RAR alpha and possibly other T3 and RA receptors.


1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Liu ◽  
Akira Takeshita ◽  
Takashi Nagaya ◽  
Aria Baniahmad ◽  
William W. Chin ◽  
...  

Abstract We have employed a chimeric receptor system in which we cotransfected yeast GAL4 DNA-binding domain/retinoid X receptor β ligand-binding domain chimeric receptor (GAL4RXR), thyroid hormone receptor-β (TRβ), and upstream activating sequence-reporter plasmids into CV-1 cells to study repression, derepression, and transcriptional activation. In the absence of T3, unliganded TR repressed transcription to 20% of basal level, and in the presence of T3, liganded TRβ derepressed transcription to basal level. Using this system and a battery of TRβ mutants, we found that TRβ/RXR heterodimer formation is necessary and sufficient for basal repression and derepression in this system. Additionally, an AF-2 domain mutant (E457A) mediated basal repression but not derepression, suggesting that interaction with a putative coactivator at this site may be critical for derepression. Interestingly, a mutant containing only the TRβ ligand binding domain (LBD) not only mediated derepression, but also stimulated transcriptional activation 10-fold higher than basal level. Studies using deletion and domain swap mutants localized an inhibitory region to the TRβ DNA-binding domain. Titration studies further suggested that allosteric changes promoting interaction with coactivators may account for enhanced transcriptional activity by LBD. In summary, our findings suggest that TR heterodimer formation with RXR is important for repression and derepression, and coactivator interaction with the AF-2 domain may be needed for derepression in this chimeric system. Additionally, there may be an inhibitory region in the DNA-binding domain, which reduces TR interaction with coactivators, and prevents full-length wild-type TRβ from achieving transcriptional activation above basal level in this chimeric receptor system.


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