Transcriptional regulation of the Xenopus laevis Stromelysin-3 gene by thyroid hormone is mediated by a DNA element in the first intron

The matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) stromelysin-3 (ST3) (MMP11) was first isolated as a breast cancer-associated gene and is expressed in diverse human carcinomas and various developmental processes involving apoptosis. The Xenopus laevis ST3 is highly up-regulated by thyroid hormone (T3) during amphibian metamorphosis, and its expression is spatially and temporally correlated with apoptosis in different tissues. Furthermore, it has been shown in vivo and in organ cultures to play a critical role in regulating T3-induced epithelial cell death during intestinal metamorphosis. Earlier studies suggest that ST3 is a direct T3 response gene, although a thyroid hormone response element (TRE) was not found in the initial analysis of the ST3 promoter. Here, we have identified a strong TRE consisting of two nearly perfect direct repeats of the consensus nuclear hormone receptor binding element AGGTCA separated by 4 bp in the first intron of the Xenopus ST3 gene. We show that the heterodimers of T3 receptor (TR) and 9-cis-retinoic acid receptor bind to the TRE both in vitro and in vivo in the context of chromatin. Furthermore, T3 induces strong activation of the promoter through the intronic TRE. Interestingly, although the unliganded TR/9-cis-retinoic acid receptor was able to recruit corepressors to the promoter, it had little repressive effect on the promoter in vivo. These results suggest that the intronic TRE mediates the inductive effect of T3 and that promoter context plays an important role in gene repression by unliganded TR.     

Characterization of myelin basic protein thyroid hormone response element and its function in the context of native and heterologous promoter.

In this report we have characterized further the myelin basic protein (MBP) gene thyroid hormone response element (TRE) by functional and binding analysis. Mutation and deletion experiments revealed that this TRE, confined to the sequences -184 to -167 of the MBP promoter, is able to function as a classical regulatory element in the context of the native and a heterologous promoter. It is comprised of two regions, containing a motif that is highly conserved among other TREs: AGGACA, arranged as an inverted palindrome. Any mutation within the footprinted region impaired receptor binding and function. Moreover, the deletion of sequences outside of the receptor footprinted region (MBP-TRE-18) resulted in a higher triiodothyronine responsiveness and a concomitant increase in receptor-dependent, hormone-independent repression. Results of transfection assays showed that both receptors alpha and beta elicit indistinguishable triiodothyronine responses when the MBP-TRE functions as a regulator of a heterologous promoter activity. However, a preferential beta receptor transactivation was observed when the MBP-TRE was placed in the context of its native promoter.     

Retinoic acid activation and thyroid hormone repression of the human alcohol dehydrogenase gene ADH3.

Mammalian alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) catalyzes the oxidation of retinol to retinaldehyde, the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of retinoic acid. There exists a family of ADH isozymes encoded by unique genes, and it is unclear which isozymes are most important for regulation of retinoic acid synthesis during differentiation or development. A region in the human ADH3 promoter from -328 to -272 base pairs was shown previously to function as a retinoic acid response element (RARE), prompting an hypothesis for a positive feedback mechanism controlling retinoic acid synthesis (Duester, G., Shean, M. L., McBride, M. S., and Stewart, M. J. (1991) Mol. Cell. Biol. 11, 1638-1646). The ADH3 RARE contains three direct AGGTCA repeats which constitute the critical nucleotides of RAREs present in other genes. We dissected the ADH3 RARE and determined that receptor binding as well as transactivation are dependent upon only the two downstream AGGTCA motifs separated by 5 base pairs, a structure noticed previously for a RARE in the promoter for the retinoic acid receptor beta (RAR beta) gene. ADH3 and RAR beta RAREs functioned similarly in transfection assays, suggesting that the feedback mechanisms controlling ADH3 and RAR beta utilize a common RARE. We also found that the normal functioning of the ADH3 RARE was abrogated by thyroid hormone receptor in the presence of thyroid hormone. A negative thyroid hormone response element in the human ADH3 promoter was found to colocalize with the RARE. Since ADH production in rat liver is known to be repressed by thyroid hormone, these findings suggest that human ADH production may also be subject to thyroid hormone repression and that the mechanism involves an interference with retinoic acid induction.     

Characterization of an unusual thyroid response unit in the promoter of the human placental lactogen gene

The human placental lactogen B (hCS-B) promoter activity is strongly stimulated by thyroid hormones in the rat pituitary GC cell line. The minimal DNA sequence required for stimulation, as determined by transfection with 5' and 3' deletion mutants, spans 67 base pairs, from coordinate -97 to -31. DNase I footprinting experiments show that this thyroid response unit includes two adjacent binding sites: one for the thyroid receptor (-67/-41), the other for the pituitary-specific factor GHF1 (-95/-68). Neither region alone is sufficient to confer thyroid responsiveness. The thyroid receptor binding element (TBE) does not contain any repeats or palindromes but is composed of two different domains, one of which is very similar to the half-palindromic motif described by Glass et al. (Glass, C.K., Holloway, J.M., Devary, O.L., and Rosenfeld, M.G. (1988) Cell 54, 313-323). The other is very rich in purine. The normal human growth hormone (hGH-N) promoter, which is 94% similar to the hCS-B promoter, differs from its hCS-B counterpart precisely in this TBE. This difference may explain the opposite 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) regulation of these two genes.