scholarly journals Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha: role in rodent liver cancer and species differences

1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
PR Holden ◽  
JD Tugwood
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Species Differences ◽  
Plasma Cholesterol ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Receptor Alpha ◽  
Rats And Mice

Peroxisome proliferators (PPs) are chemicals of industrial and pharmaceutical importance that elicit liver carcinogenesis by a non-genotoxic mechanism. One of the intriguing properties of PPs is that the pleiotropic effects of these compounds (including increased DNA synthesis and peroxisome proliferation) are seen in rats and mice only, but not humans. It is important to determine the risks to humans of environmental and therapeutic exposure to these compounds by understanding the mechanisms of non-genotoxic hepatocarcinogenesis in rodents. To understand this apparent lack of human susceptibility, attention has focused on the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha), which appears to mediate the effects of PPs in rodents. It is also known to mediate the hypolipidaemic effects that fibrate drugs exert on humans with elevated plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Human PPARalphas share many functional characteristics with the rodent receptors, in that they can be transcriptionally activated by PPs and regulate specific gene expression. However, one key difference is that PPARalpha is less abundant in human than in rodent liver, which has led to the suggestion that species differences result from quantitative differences in gene expression. In this review we describe the effects of PPs and what is known of the molecular mechanisms of action and species differences with respect to rodents and man. Attention will be given to differences in the amounts of PPARalpha between species as well as the 'qualitative' aspects of PPARalpha-mediated gene regulation which might also explain the activation of some genes and not of others in human liver by PPs.

Disruption of transforming growth factor-β signaling by curcumin induces gene expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ in rat hepatic stellate cells

2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (1) ◽  
pp. G113-G123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shizhong Zheng ◽  
Anping Chen
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Hepatic Stellate Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Gene Promoter ◽  
Stellate Cells ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Β ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Ppar Γ

Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC), the major effectors of hepatic fibrogenesis, is coupled with sequential alterations in gene expression, including an increase in receptors for transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and a dramatic reduction in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ). The relationship between them remains obscure. We previously demonstrated that curcumin induced gene expression of PPAR-γ in activated HSC, leading to reducing cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis and suppressing expression of extracellular matrix genes. The underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. We recently observed that stimulation of PPAR-γ activation suppressed gene expression of TGF-β receptors in activated HSC, leading to the interruption of TGF-β signaling. This observation supported our assumption of an antagonistic relationship between PPAR-γ activation and TGF-β signaling in HSC. In this study, we further hypothesize that TGF-β signaling might negatively regulate gene expression of PPAR-γ in activated HSC. The present report demonstrates that exogenous TGF-β1 inhibits gene expression of PPAR-γ in activated HSC, which is eliminated by the pretreatment with curcumin likely by interrupting TGF-β signaling. Transfection assays further indicate that blocking TGF-β signaling by dominant negative type II TGF-β receptor increases the promoter activity of PPAR-γ gene. Promoter deletion assays, site-directed mutageneses, and gel shift assays localize two Smad binding elements (SBEs) in the PPAR-γ gene promoter, acting as curcumin response elements and negatively regulating the promoter activity in passaged HSC. The Smad3/4 protein complex specifically binds to the SBEs. Overexpression of Smad4 dose dependently eliminates the inhibitory effects of curcumin on the PPAR-γ gene promoter and TGF-β signaling. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the interruption of TGF-β signaling by curcumin induces gene expression of PPAR-γ in activated HSC in vitro. Our studies provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of curcumin in the induction of PPAR-γ gene expression and in the inhibition of HSC activation.

scholarly journals Activated Liver X Receptors Stimulate Adipocyte Differentiation through Induction of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ Expression

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 3430-3444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong Bae Seo ◽  
Hyang Mi Moon ◽  
Woo Sik Kim ◽  
Yun Sok Lee ◽  
Hyun Woo Jeong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Target Gene ◽  
Adipocyte Differentiation ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Liver X Receptors ◽  
Gene Promoters ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Specific Gene Expression ◽  
X Receptors

ABSTRACT Liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear hormone receptors that regulate cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism in liver tissue and in macrophages. Although LXR activation enhances lipogenesis, it is not well understood whether LXRs are involved in adipocyte differentiation. Here, we show that LXR activation stimulated the execution of adipogenesis, as determined by lipid droplet accumulation and adipocyte-specific gene expression in vivo and in vitro. In adipocytes, LXR activation with T0901317 primarily enhanced the expression of lipogenic genes such as the ADD1/SREBP1c and FAS genes and substantially increased the expression of the adipocyte-specific genes encoding PPARγ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ) and aP2. Administration of the LXR agonist T0901317 to lean mice promoted the expression of most lipogenic and adipogenic genes in fat and liver tissues. It is of interest that the PPARγ gene is a novel target gene of LXR, since the PPARγ promoter contains the conserved binding site of LXR and was transactivated by the expression of LXRα. Moreover, activated LXRα exhibited an increase of DNA binding to its target gene promoters, such as ADD1/SREBP1c and PPARγ, which appeared to be closely associated with hyperacetylation of histone H3 in the promoter regions of those genes. Furthermore, the suppression of LXRα by small interfering RNA attenuated adipocyte differentiation. Taken together, these results suggest that LXR plays a role in the execution of adipocyte differentiation by regulation of lipogenesis and adipocyte-specific gene expression.

scholarly journals Alternative Mechanisms by Which Mediator Subunit MED1/TRAP220 Regulates Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ-Stimulated Adipogenesis and Target Gene Expression

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1081-1091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Ge ◽  
Young-Wook Cho ◽  
Hong Guo ◽  
Teresa B. Hong ◽  
Mohamed Guermah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Nuclear Receptor ◽  
Transcriptional Activity ◽  
Target Gene ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Cultured Fibroblasts ◽  
Target Gene Expression

ABSTRACT Mediator is a general coactivator complex connecting transcription activators and RNA polymerase II. Recent work has shown that the nuclear receptor-interacting MED1/TRAP220 subunit of Mediator is required for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ)-stimulated adipogenesis of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). However, the molecular mechanisms remain undefined. Here, we show an intracellular PPARγ-Mediator interaction that requires the two LXXLL nuclear receptor recognition motifs on MED1/TRAP220 and, furthermore, we show that the intact LXXLL motifs are essential for optimal PPARγ function in a reconstituted cell-free transcription system. Surprisingly, a conserved N-terminal region of MED1/TRAP220 that lacks the LXXLL motifs but gets incorporated into Mediator fully supports PPARγ-stimulated adipogenesis. Moreover, in undifferentiated MEFs, MED1/TRAP220 is dispensable both for PPARγ-mediated target gene activation and for recruitment of Mediator to a PPAR response element on the aP2 target gene promoter. However, PPARγ shows significantly reduced transcriptional activity in cells deficient for a subunit (MED24/TRAP100) important for the integrity of the Mediator complex, indicating a general Mediator requirement for PPARγ function. These results indicate that there is a conditional requirement for MED1/TRAP220 and that a direct interaction between PPARγ and Mediator through MED1/TRAP220 is not essential either for PPARγ-stimulated adipogenesis or for PPARγ target gene expression in cultured fibroblasts. As Mediator is apparently essential for PPARγ transcriptional activity, our data indicate the presence of alternative mechanisms for Mediator recruitment, possibly through intermediate cofactors or other cofactors that are functionally redundant with MED1/TRAP220.

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