Effects of retinoid ligands on RIP140: molecular interaction with retinoid receptors and biological activity

Receptor interacting protein 140 (RIP140) interacts with retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR) constitutively, but hormone binding enhances this interaction. The ligand-independent interaction is mediated by the amino and central regions of RIP140 which contain a total of nine copies of the LXXLL motif, whereas the agonist-induced interaction is mediated by its carboxyl terminus which contains a novel motif (1063-1076, LTKTNPILYYMLQK). The ligand-independent interaction could be enhanced slightly by agonists, whereas the ligand-dependent interaction was strictly agonist dependent for both RAR and RXR. In the context of heterodimers, ligand occupancy of RXR played a more dominant role for both molecular interaction and biological activity of RIP140. Competition and mutation studies demonstrated an essential role for (1067)Asn and (1073)Met for a ligand-dependent interaction. A model was proposed to address the constitutive and agonist-dependent interaction of RIP140 with RAR/RXR.     

Ligand-dependent formation of retinoid receptors, receptor-interacting protein 140 (RIP140), and histone deacetylase complex is mediated by a novel receptor-interacting motif of RIP140

Receptor-interacting protein 140 (RIP140) interacts with retinoic acid receptor and retinoid X receptor in a ligand-dependent manner and suppresses retinoic acid (RA) induction of its target genes. The receptor-interacting motif is mapped to a C-terminal peptide sequence (LTKTNPILYYMLQK) of RIP140. The functional role of this motif in mediating the suppressive effects of RIP140 on RA induction is demonstrated in mutation studies. RA induces coimmunoprecipitation of histone deacetylase 3 with retinoic acid receptor/retinoid X receptor in the presence of wild type RIP140, but not in the presence of the C-terminal motif-deleted RIP140. A decrease in histone acetylation on the promoter region that carries a RA response element is associated with the expression of wild type RIP140, but not with expression of the mutant RIP140, in a dose-dependent manner. These data provide a molecular explanation for RIP140 acting as a novel ligand-dependent, negative modulator of RA-regulated gene expression.     

Control of retinoic acid receptor heterodimerization by ligand-induced structural transitions. A novel mechanism of action for retinoid antagonists

Heterodimerization of retinoic acid receptors (RARs) with 9-cis-retinoic receptors (RXRs) is a prerequisite for binding of RXR.RAR dimers to DNA and for retinoic acid-induced gene regulation. Whether retinoids control RXR/RAR solution interaction remains a debated question, and we have used in vitro and in vivo protein interaction assays to investigate the role of ligand in modulating RXR/RAR interaction in the absence of DNA. Two-hybrid assay in mammalian cells demonstrated that only RAR agonists were able to increase significantly RAR interaction with RXR, whereas RAR antagonists inhibited RXR binding to RAR. Quantitative glutathione S-transferase pull-down assays established that there was a strict correlation between agonist binding affinity for the RAR monomer and the affinity of RXR for liganded RAR, but RAR antagonists were inactive in inducing RXR recruitment to RAR in vitro. Alteration of coactivator- or corepressor-binding interfaces of RXR or RAR did not alter ligand-enhanced dimerization. In contrast, preventing the formation of a stable holoreceptor structure upon agonist binding strongly altered RXR.RAR dimerization. Finally, we observed that RAR interaction with RXR silenced RXR ligand-dependent activation function. We propose that ligand-controlled dimerization of RAR with RXR is an important step in the RXR.RAR activation process. This interaction is dependent upon adequate remodeling of the AF-2 structure and amenable to pharmacological inhibition by structurally modified retinoids.     

Ligand-dependent conformational changes in thyroid hormone and retinoic acid receptors are potentially enhanced by heterodimerization with retinoic X receptor

Recently, many lines of evidence have been accumulated indicating that thyroid hormone receptor (TR) and retinoic acid receptor (RAR) undergo a ligand-dependent conformation change. Since most of these results were obtained by either gel-shift assay or circular dichroism spectroscopic studies, it was not clear which part of the receptor bore the major conformational change. Moreover, it is not clear whether the formation of heterodimer between TR or RAR and retinoic X receptor (RXR) has any effects on this structural change. Utilizing partial proteolytic analysis, we demonstrated that thyroid hormone and retinoic acid induce a specific protease-resistant conformation to their cognate receptors. Studies of various deletion mutants reveal that the entire ligand binding domain of these receptors is involved in this change, and suggest that ligand may induce a more compact structure in its binding domain. Evidence from native gel electrophoresis supports this notion. This conformational change occurs in the absence of DNA and occurs indenpendently of other domains in the receptor. Heterodimerization between TR or RAR and the RXR has little effect on receptor conformation in the absence of hormone but does enhance the ligand-dependent structural change. Interestingly, dual hormone treatment, i.e. thyroid hormone and 9-cis RA, intensifies this enhancement. We suggest that the observed protease-resistant conformation may introduce a different configuration to the receptor and therefore may effect the receptor in various ways, but most likely is involved in converting the receptor from a negative regulator to a positive activator.     

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 prevents retinoid receptor heterodimerization: implications for retinoic acid-sensitivity in human breast cancer cells

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) has both IGF-dependent and -independent effects on cell growth, which are frequently growth-inhibitory. Interestingly, the development of a more aggressive phenotype in breast cancer cells (BCCs) correlates positively with elevated expression of IGFBP-3 and is often associated with all-trans-retinoic acid (atRA)-resistance. IGFBP-3 was previously demonstrated to interact directly with retinoid X receptor (RXR). In this study we have shown that IGFBP-5 also interacts with RXR and that both IGFBPs interact with retinoic acid receptor (RAR). To investigate whether the presence of IGFBP-3 regulates breast cancer cell responsiveness to atRA, we immuno-neutralized the IGFBP-3 expressed by the atRA-resistant Hs578T and MDA-MB-231 BCCs (which express IGFBP-3 constitutively) and showed that they become more sensitive to the growth-inhibitory effects of atRA. Similarly, in Hs578T cells expressing a reporter gene under the control of an RAR response element (RARE), depletion of IGFBP-3 resulted in the induction of reporter gene expression in response to atRA. In investigating possible mechanisms for IGFBP-3 regulation of atRA-sensitivity, we found that IGFBP-3 blocked the formation of RAR:RXR heterodimers and disrupted the ligand-inducible receptor complex. Thus, IGFBP-3 has the potential to reduce the RARE-mediated transactivation of target genes and modulate the atRA-response in BCCs.