The erbA oncogene represses the actions of both retinoid X and retinoid A receptors but does so by distinct mechanisms.

Genetic lesions that function as dominant negative mutations in microbial systems have long been recognized. It is only relatively recently, however, that similar dominant negative mutations have been implicated as a basis for genetic and neoplastic disorders in vertebrates. We describe here a dissection of the actions of the erbA oncogene protein, an aberrant form of thyroid hormone receptor that acts as a dominant negative inhibitor of other nuclear hormone receptors. We demonstrate that the ErbA oncoprotein interferes with thyroid hormone and trans-retinoic acid receptors by competing for binding to the corresponding response elements. Heterodimerization of the ErbA oncoprotein with these receptors does not play an observable role in repression. In contrast, however, the ErbA oncoprotein does efficiently form a heterodimer with the retinoid X receptor (RXR) class of nuclear hormone receptors; complex formation enhances the DNA-binding properties of the ErbA protein but dramatically interferes with the ability of the RXR component to activate gene expression. Our results indicate that the erbA oncogene may play a previously unanticipated role in neoplasia by interfering with RXR function.     

An RNA-binding domain in the thyroid hormone receptor enhances transcriptional activation

Thyroid hormone plays important roles in development, differentiation, and metabolic homeostasis by binding to nuclear thyroid hormone receptors, which regulate target gene expression by interacting with DNA response elements and coregulatory proteins. We show that thyroid hormone receptors also are single-stranded RNA binding proteins and that this binding is functionally significant. By using a series of deletion mutants, a novel RNA-binding domain was localized to a 41-amino acid segment of thyroid hormone receptor alpha1 between the second zinc finger and the ligand-binding domain. This RNA-binding domain was necessary and sufficient for thyroid hormone receptor binding to the steroid receptor RNA activator (SRA). Although SRA does not bind directly to steroid receptors, it has been identified as a steroid receptor coactivator, and was thought not to be a coactivator for thyroid hormone receptors. However, transfection studies revealed that SRA enhances thyroid hormone induction of appropriate reporter genes and that the thyroid hormone receptor RNA-binding domain is important for this enhancement. We conclude that thyroid hormone receptors bind RNA through a novel domain and that the interaction of this domain with SRA, and perhaps other RNAs, enhances thyroid hormone receptor function.