Synergism of closely adjacent estrogen-responsive elements increases their regulatory potential

Recent gene transfer experiments have shown that an estrogen-responsive DNA element (ERE) GGTCANNNTGACC mediates the estrogen inducibility of the Xenopus laevis vitellogenin A1 and A2 genes as well as the chicken vitellogenin II gene. We report here on experiments that explain the estrogen regulation of the Xenopus vitellogenin B1 and B2 genes. In these genes, two ERE homologues, which have only low, if any, regulatory capacity on their own, act synergistically to achieve high estrogen inducibility. Furthermore we show that synergism of EREs is most efficient, when the two elements are closely adjacent and that it is lost when the synergistic elements are separated by 125 basepairs. In-vitro estrogen receptor binding experiments indicate that co-operative binding of estrogen receptors to closely adjacent EREs is not essential for synergism of ERE homologues that have no intrinsic regulatory capacity. Functional synergism of EREs is observed in the human estrogen-responsive MCF-7 cell line as well as in mouse fibroblasts (Ltk-) cotransfected with estrogen receptor expression vectors. Even expression of a truncated receptor protein lacking 178 amino acid residues of the amino-terminal end allows synergism, suggesting that the amino-terminal end preceding the DNA-binding domain of the estrogen receptor is not required.     

A far upstream estrogen response element of the ovalbumin gene contains several half-palindromic 5'-TGACC-3' motifs acting synergistically.

We have identified an estrogen-responsive enhancer element (DH3 ERE) in the estrogen-induced DNAase I-hypersensitive region III of the chicken ovalbumin gene, which is located approximately 3.3 kb upstream from the mRNA start site and does not contain palindromic ERE. Four TGACC half-palindromic motifs, separated from each other by more than 100 bp, are responsible for conferring estrogen inducibility either to the proximal ovalbumin gene promoter or to heterologous promoters. Thus, widely spaced half-palindromic ERE motifs can act synergistically. Each half-palindromic motif was shown to bind the estrogen receptor (ER) with a low efficiency in vitro. However, two widely spaced half-palindromic motifs bound the ER cooperatively, much more efficiently than expected from binding to isolated half-ERE motifs. The ovalbumin promoter half-palindromic ERE motif located close to the TATA box was required for the activity of the distal DH3 ERE, but could be replaced by the binding sites of other transactivators.     

Binding of type II nuclear receptors and estrogen receptor to full and half-site estrogen response elements in vitro.

The mechanism by which retinoids, thyroid hormone (T3) and estrogens modulate the growth of breast cancer cells is unclear. Since nuclear type II nuclear receptors, including retinoic acid receptor (RAR), retinoid X receptor (RXR) and thyroid hormone receptor (TR), bind direct repeats (DR) of the estrogen response elements (ERE) half-site (5'-AGGTCA-3'), we examined the ability of estrogen receptor (ER) versus type II nuclear receptors, i.e. RARalpha, beta and gamma, RXRbeta, TRalpha and TRbeta, to bind various EREs in vitro . ER bound a consensus ERE, containing a perfectly palindromic 17 bp inverted repeat (IR), as a homodimer. In contrast, ER did not bind to a single ERE half-site. Likewise, ER did not bind two tandem (38 bp apart) half-sites, but low ER binding was detected to three tandem copies of the same half-site. RARalpha,beta or gamma bound both ERE and half-site constructs as a homodimer. RXRbeta did not bind full or half-site EREs, nor did RXRbeta enhance RARalpha binding to a full ERE. However, RARalpha and RXRbeta bound a half-site ERE cooperatively forming a dimeric complex. The RARalpha-RXRbeta heterodimer bound the Xenopus vitellogenin B1 estrogen responsive unit, with two non-consensus EREs, with higher affinity than one or two copies of the full or half-site ERE. Both TRalpha and TRbeta bound the full and the half-site ERE as monomers and homodimers and cooperatively as heterodimers with RXRbeta. We suggest that the cellular concentrations of nuclear receptors and their ligands, and the nature of the ERE or half-site sequence and those of its flanking sequences determine the occupation of EREs in estrogen-regulated genes in vivo .     

Modular structure of a chicken lysozyme silencer: involvement of an unusual thyroid hormone receptor binding site

Silencer elements, by analogy to enhancer elements, function independently of their position and orientation. We show that the chicken lysozyme silencer S-2.4 kb has many other characteristics in common with enhancer elements. The silencer is comprised of modules that independently repress gene activity--repression being increased synergistically when different or identical modules are combined. Repression is effective both on a complete and on a minimal promoter consisting of a TATA box only. One silencer module is bound in vitro by a 75-93 kd protein, termed NeP1; the other can be bound either by the product of the oncogene v-erbA or by the thyroid hormone receptor. This erbA binding site is unusual in that the palindromic sequence is inverted.     

Differential tissue distribution, developmental programming, estrogen regulation and promoter characteristics of cyp19 genes in teleost fish

Teleost fish are characterized by exceptionally high levels of brain estrogen biosynthesis when compared to the brains of other vertebrates or to the ovaries of the same fish. Goldfish (Carassius auratus) and zebrafish (Danio rerio) have utility as complementary models for understanding the molecular basis and functional significance of exaggerated neural estrogen biosynthesis. Multiple cytochrome P450 aromatase (P450arom) cDNAs that derive from separate gene loci (cyp19a and cyp19b) are differentially expressed in brain (P450aromBA) and ovary (P450aromAB) and have a different developmental program (BA) and response to estrogen upregulation (B only). As measured by increased P450aromB mRNA, a functional estrogen response system is first detected 24–48 h post-fertilization (hpf), consistent with the onset of estrogen receptor (ER) expression (, β, and γ). The 5′-flanking region of the cyp19b gene has a TATA box, two estrogen response elements (EREs), an ERE half-site (ERE1/2), a nerve growth factor inducible-B protein (NGFI-B)/Nur77 responsive element (NBRE) binding site, and a sequence identical to the zebrafish GATA-2 gene neural specific enhancer. The cyp19a promoter region has TATA and CAAT boxes, a steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1) binding site, and two aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)/AhR nuclear translocator factor (ARNT) binding motifs. Both genes have multiple potential SRY/SOX binding sites (16 and 8 in cyp19b and cyp19a, respectively). Luciferase reporters have basal promoter activity in GH3 cells, but differences (ab) are opposite to fish pituitary (ba). When microinjected into fertilized zebrafish eggs, a cyp19b promoter-driven green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter (but not cyp19a) is expressed in neurons of 30–48 hpf embryos, most prominently in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their projections to optic tectum. Further studies are required to identify functionally relevant cis-elements and cellular factors, and to determine the regulatory role of estrogen in neurodevelopment.     

Binding of the estrogen receptor DNA-binding domain to the estrogen response element induces DNA bending.

We have used circular permutation analysis to determine whether binding of purified Xenopus laevis estrogen receptor DNA-binding domain (DBD) to a DNA fragment containing an estrogen response element (ERE) causes the DNA to bend. Gel mobility shift assays showed that DBD-DNA complexes formed with fragments containing more centrally located EREs migrated more slowly than complexes formed with fragments containing EREs near the ends of the DNA. DNA bending standards were used to determine that the degree of bending induced by binding of the DBD to an ERE was approximately 34 degrees. A 1.55-fold increase in the degree of bending was observed when two EREs were present in the DNA fragment. These in vitro studies suggest that interaction of nuclear receptors with their hormone response elements in vivo may result in an altered DNA conformation.     

Different regions of the estrogen receptor are required for synergistic action with the glucocorticoid and progesterone receptors.

Estrogen and progesterone or estrogen and glucocorticoid receptors functionally cooperate in gene activation if their cognate binding sites are close to one another. These interactions have been described as synergism of action of the steroid receptors. The mechanism by which synergism is achieved is not clear, although protein-protein interaction of the receptors is one of the favorite models. In transfection experiments with receptor expression vectors and a reporter gene containing estrogen and progesterone-glucocorticoid receptor binding sites, we have examined the effects that different portions of the various receptors have on synergism. N-terminal domains of the chicken progesterone and human glucocorticoid receptors, when deleted, abolished the synergistic action of these receptors with the estrogen receptor. Deletion of the carboxy-terminal amino acids 341 to 595 of the estrogen receptor produced a mutant receptor that could not trans-activate on its own. This mutant receptor did not affect the action of the glucocorticoid receptor but functioned synergistically with the progesterone receptor. We therefore conclude that the synergistic action of the receptors for estrogen and progesterone is mechanistically different from the synergistic action of the receptors for estrogen and glucocorticoid.     

Hormonal regulation of vitellogenin genes: an estrogen-responsive element in the Xenopus A2 gene and a multihormonal regulatory region in the chicken II gene

Expression of the vitellogenin genes in avian and amphibian liver is regulated by estrogens. The DNA elements mediating estrogen induction of the various vitellogenin genes of chicken and Xenopus encompass one or more copies of a 13-mer palindromic sequence called the estrogen-responsive element (ERE). Here we show that upon incubation with the purified estrogen receptor (ER) from calf uterus the Xenopus vitellogenin A2 gene yields a DNase-I footprint over the ERE between -331 and -319. This element does not mediate the response to glucocorticoids or progestins in T47D cells. The three guanine residues in each half of the palindrome are protected against methylation by dimethylsulfate after incubation with ER, but not with glucocorticoid (GR) or progesterone (PR) receptors. In contrast, the chicken vitellogenin II gene exhibits multihormonal regulation by estrogens, progestins, and glucocorticoids in T47D and MCF7 cells. Regulation is mediated by the DNA region between -721 and -591 that contains four binding sites for hormone receptors, as demonstrated by DNase-I footprints and methylation protection experiments. The two distal and most proximal binding sites are recognized by ER, GR, and PR, whereas the central binding site is only bound by ER and GR. At suboptimal concentrations, estrogens and progestins or glucocorticoids act synergistically. In experiments using a DNA fragment containing an ERE adjacent to a glucocorticoid-responsive element/progesterone-responsive element, ER and PR bind synergistically to their corresponding sites, perhaps explaining the functional synergism of both hormones. Thus, two very different regulatory elements are used to mediate estrogen induction of related genes in chickens and amphibians.     

Stability of the ligand-estrogen receptor interaction depends on estrogen response element flanking sequences and cellular factors

To determine whether accessory proteins mediate the ligand- and DNA sequence-dependent specificity of estrogen receptor (ER) interaction with DNA, the binding of partly purified vs highly purified bovine ER to various estrogen response elements (EREs) was measured in the presence of different ER ligands. Partly purified estradiol-liganded ER (E₂-ER) binds cooperatively to stereoaligned tandem EREs flanked by naturally occurring AT-rich sequences, with a stoichiometry of one E₂-ER dimer per ERE. In contrast, highly purified E₂-ER binds with a 10-fold lower affinity and non-cooperatively to EREs flanked by the AT-rich region. Moreover, the binding stoichiometry of highly purified E₂-ER was 0.5 E₂-ER dimer, or one monomer per ERE, independent of the ERE flanking sequence. Interestingly, the binding of ER liganded with the antiestrogen 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT-ER) was non-cooperative with an apparent stoichiometry of 0.5 4-OHT-ER dimer per ERE, regardless of ER purity or ERE flanking sequence. We recently showed that when 4-OHT-ER binds DNA, one molecule of 4-OHT dissociates from the dimeric 4-OHT-ER-ERE complex, accounting for the reduced apparent binding stoichiometry. In contrast, ER covalently bound by tamoxifen aziridine (TAz) gave an ERE binding stoichiometry of one TAz-ER dimer per ERE, and TAz-ER binds cooperatively to multiple AT-rich EREs, regardless of the purity of the receptor. We have obtained evidence that purification of ER removes an accessory protein(s) that interacts with ER in a sequence- and/or DNA conformational-dependent manner, resulting in stabilization of E₂, but not 4-OHT, in the ligand binding domain when the receptor binds to DNA. We postulate that retention of ligand by ER maintains the receptor in a conformation necessary to achieve high-affinity, cooperative ERE binding.