• BMB Reports
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.468-473
• /
• 1996

The P38 promoter of minute virus of mice (MVM) is a very weak promoter which is strongly transactivated by viral nonstructural proteins. To analyze the upstream sequence of the P38 promoter which is responsible for the transactivation by nonstructural proteins in MVM, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter plasm ids containing a series of 5' deletion and internal deletion mutants of the P38 promoter were constructed. The wild type and mutant CAT constructs of P38 promoter were cotransfected into murine A92L fibroblast cells with a plasmid expressing viral nonstructural proteins by DEAE-dextran method. Each promoter activity was analyzed by CAT assay. As previously reported (Ahn et al., 1992), the proximal DNA cis-elements required for transactivation of the MVM P38 promoter are GC box and TATA box. However, the analysis of 5' deletion mutants showed that H-l tar like sequence (MVM TAR) which is located between -143 and -122 relative to the transcription initiation site is also required for transactivation of the P38 promoter by nonstructural proteins. Interestingly, even if the MVM TAR was removed by internal deletion, the level of the transactivation is still 70% of wild type level of transactivation. We also found that, in addition to the MVM TAR motif, there are two other motifs which are similar to the MVM TAR sequence. When these TAR like motifs were further deleted, the levels of transactivation were decreased further. Taken together, the MVM TAR sequence and TAR like motifs located upstream of P38 promoter are playing an important role for the transactivation of P38 promoter by nonstructural proteins in minute virus of mice.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.279-287
• /
• 1999

The aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a cytosolic protein that binds the environmental pollutant, dioxin. The liganded AhR translocates into the nucleus where it heterimerizes with a constitutive nuclear protein, AhR nuclear translocator (Arnt). The N-terminal regions of both AhR and Arnt contain basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) and Per-AhR-Arnt-Sim (PAS) motifs that are required for DNA binding, dimerization, and ligand binding whereas the C-terminal regions of both AhR and Arnt contain transactivation domains. Here, results from the mammalian two-hybrid system indicate that Arnt can make a homodimer but AhR cannot. In the presence of dioxin, the interaction between AhR and Arnt is stronger than that of the Arnt homodimer, suggesting that Arnt prefers to make a heterodimer with the liganded AhR rather than a homodimer. Transfection analyses using the GAL4-driven reporter system suggest that AhR's N-terminal region represses its own transactivation domain, as well as exogenous transactivation domains such as Sp 1 and VP16. Interestingly, the repressed transactivation domains of AhR are activated by ligand-dependent heterodimerization with Arnt. These observations suggest that heterodimerzation with Arnt is necessary not only for DNA binding but also for activation of the repressed transactivation capability of AhR.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
• /
• 2007.04a
• /
• pp.25-44
• /
• 2007

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is an intracellular protein that is widely distributed throughout hippocampal and neocortical brain tissue. Mifepristone (RU486) is a potent GR antagonist that has also been shown to exhibit partial agonist-like effects. The precise location of the GR domain involved in the agonist-like activity of RU486 is unknown. Here, we examine this aspect of GR signaling by comparing human GR (hGR) construct with a Guyanese squirrel monkey GR (gsmGR) construct in which nuclear translocation and transactivation are known to be impaired. Using an objective translocation scoring method, we found that both hGR and gsmGR are translocated by RU486, and that nuclear translocation of hGR is significantly increased compared to gsmGR at 10 nM, 100 nM and 1000 nM RU486 in transiently transfected COS1 cells. While addition of RU486 to the cells transfected with hGR results in a 16-fold dose-dependent increase in transactivation compared to non-treated cells, no significant change in transactivation is observed with gsmGR at doses up to 100 nM RU486. Further experiments using six GR chimeras indicate that replacement of the hGR carboxyl-terminus of tau-1 transactivation domain (C-AF1, amino acids 132-428) with that from gsmGR diminishes hGR transactivation by RU486. These results demonstrate that RU486-induced transactivation of GR is determined in part by amino acids in the C-AF1 domain.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.405-408
• /
• 1999

The transactivation potential of HIV-1 Vpu was identified from the yeast two-hybrid screening process. The helix II domain of HIV-1 Vpu protein and mutant Vpu protein lacking the transmembrane domain exhibited transactivation of the LacZ and Leu2 reporter genes carrying LexA upstream activating sequences, but full-length HIV-1 Vpu and the helix I domain of HIV-1 Vpu did not. The helix II domain of HIV-1 Vpu consists of a number of acidic amino acids, and is especially rich in glutamic acid, a characteristic of many transcription factors. This result suggests that protein-protein interaction may occur through the acidic helix II domain of HIV-1 Vpu.

• The Journal of Natural Sciences
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.89-94
• /
• 1999

ALG-2 (apoptosis linked gene-2) is a 22 kDa calcium-binding protein necessary for apoptosis induced by various stimuli in lymphocyte. The transactivation of human ALG-2 was assessed in yeast as a fusion protein with the DNA binding domains (DBDs) of LexA. The C-terminal of hALG-2 (93-191 amino acid) exhibited transacitivation of the reporter gene, LacZ, whereas the full-length hALG-2 (1-91 amino acid) and its N-terminal (1-98 amino acid) did not. The transactivation of LacZ reporter was driven more strongly (more than 2.7-fold increase) by the C-terminus of hALG-2 than by the B42, as a positive control for transactivation. Hence, our data suggested a possible regulatory role of the N-termini of hALG-2 upon transactivation.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.304-310
• /
• 2006

Transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) regulates the induction of Phase II detoxifying enzymes and antioxidant enzymes in response to many cancer chemopreventive compounds. In this study, we investigated the role of receptor associated coactivator (RAC3) or steroid receptor coactivator-3 (SRC3) and other nuclear co-regulators including CBP/p300 (CREB-binding protein), CARM1 (Coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase), PRMT1 (Protein arginine methyl-transferase 1), and p/CAF (p300/CBP-associated factor) in the transcriptional activation of a chimeric Gal4-Nrf2-Luciferase system containing the transactivation domain (TAD) of Nrf2 in HepG2 cells. The results indicated that RAC3 up-regulated the transactivation activity of Gal4-Nrf2-(1-370) in a dose-dependent manner. The enhancement of transactivation domain activity of Gal4-Nrf2-(1-370) by RAC3 was dampened in the presence of dominant negative mutants of RAC3. Next we studied the effects of other nuclear co-regulators including CBP/p300, CARM1, PRMT1 and p/CAF, and the results showed that they had different level of positive effects on this transactivation domain activity of Gal4-Nrf2-(1-370). But importantly, synergistic effects of these co-regulators in the presence of RAC3/SRC3 on the transactivation activity of Gal4-Nrf2-(1-370) were observed. In summary, our present study showed for the first time that the 160 RAC3/SRC3 is involved in the functional transactivation of TAD of Nrf2 and that the other nuclear co-regulators such as CBP/p300, CARM1, PRMT1 and p/CAF can also transcriptionally activate this TAD of Nrf2 and that they could further enhance the transactivation activity mediated by RAC3/SRC3.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.52-66
• /
• 2001

Background : NF-${\kappa}B$ is the most important transcriptional factor in IL-8 gene expression. Triptolide is a new compound that recently has been shown to inhibit NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. The purpose of this study is to investigate how triptolide inhibits NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent IL-8 gene transcription in lung epithelial cells and to pilot the potential for the clinical application of triptolide in inflammatory lung diseases. Methods : A549 cells were used and triptolide was provided from Pharmagenesis Company (Palo Alto, CA). In order to examine NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent IL-8 transcriptional activity, we established stable A549 IL-8-NF-${\kappa}B$-luc. cells and performed luciferase assays. IL-8 gene expression was measured by RT-PCR and ELISA. A Western blot was done for the study of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation and an electromobility shift assay was done to analyze NF-${\kappa}B$ DNA binding. p65 specific transactivation was analyzed by a cotransfection study using a Gal4-p65 fusion protein expression system. To investigate the involvement of transcriptional coactivators, we perfomed a transfection study with CBP and SRC-1 expression vectors. Results : We observed that triptolide significantly suppresses NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent IL-8 transcriptional activity induced by IL-$1{\beta}$ and PMA. RT-PCR showed that triptolide represses both IL-$1{\beta}$ and PMA-induced IL-8 mRNA expression and ELISA confirmed this triptolide-mediated IL-8 suppression at the protein level. However, triptolide did not affect $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation and NF-$_{\kappa}B$ DNA binding. In a p65-specific transactivation study, triptolide significantly suppressed Gal4-p65T Al and Gal4-p65T A2 activity suggesting that triptolide inhibits NF-${\kappa}B$ activation by inhibiting p65 transactivation. However, this triptolide-mediated inhibition of p65 transactivation was not rescued by the overexpression of CBP or SRC-1, thereby excluding the role of transcriptional coactivators. Conclusions : Triptolide is a new compound that inhibits NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent IL-8 transcriptional activation by inhibiting p65 transactivation, but not by an $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$-dependent mechanism. This suggests that triptolide may have a therapeutic potential for inflammatory lung diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.314-323
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of xenobiotic nuclear receptors, CAR, SXR, and PPAR${\gamma}$ on the transcriptional activity of estrogen receptor in human breast cancer cell lines and compare with those in human hepatoma cell line. Two different breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 were cultured and effects of CAR, SXR, and PPAR${\gamma}$ on the ER-mediated transcriptional activation of synthetic (4ERE)-tk-luciferase reporter gene were analyzed. Consistent with the previous report, CAR significantly inhibited ER-mediated transactivation and SXR repressed modestly whereas the PPAR${\gamma}$ did not repress the ER-mediated transactivation. However, in breast cancer cells neither of the xenobiotic receptors repressed the ER-mediated transactivation. Instead, they tend to increase the transactivation depending on the cell type and xenobiotic nuclear receptors. In MCF-7, SXR but neither CAR nor PPAR${\gamma}$ slightly increased ER-mediated transactivation whereas in MDA-MB-231, CAR and PPAR${\gamma}$ but not SXR tend to increase the transactivation of the reporter gene. These results indicate that the effects of ER cross-talk by the CAR, SXR, and PPAR${\gamma}$ , are different in breast cancer cells from hepatoma cells. In conclusion, the transcriptional regulation by estrogen can involve different cross-talk interaction between estrogen receptor and xenobiotic nuclear receptors depending on the estrogen target cells.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.109-113
• /
• 2001

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) has been shown to modulate transactivations by the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)$\gamma$ and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF$\kappa$B). In this study, the oxLDL signaling pathways involved with the NF$\kappa$B transactivation were investigated by utilizing a reporter construct driven by three upstream NF$\kappa$B binding sites, and various pharmacological inhibitors. OxLDL and its constituent lysophophatidylcholine (lysoPC) induced a rapid and transient increase of intracellular calcium and stimulated the NF-KB transactivation in resting RAW264.7 macrophage cells in an oxidation-dependent manner. The NF$\kappa$B activation by oxLDL or lysoPC was inhibited by protein kinase C inhibitors or an intracellular calcium chelator. Tyrosine kinase or PI3 kinase inhibitors did not block the NF$\kappa$B transactivation. Furthermore, the oxLDL-induced NF$\kappa$B activity was abolished by the PPAR$\gamma$ ligands. When the endocytosis of oxLDL was blocked by cytochalasin B, the NF$\kappa$B transactivation by oxLDL was synergistically increased, while PPAR transactivation was blocked. These results suggest that oxLDL activates NF-$\kappa$B in resting macrophages via protein kinase C- and/or calcium-dependent pathways, which does not involve the endocytic processing of oxLDL. The endocytosis-dependent PPAR$\gamma$ activation by oxLDL may function as an inactivation route of the oxLDL induced NF$\kappa$B signal. Short heterodimer partner (SHP), specifically expressed in liver and a limited number of other tissues, is an unusual orphan nuclear receptor that lacks the conventional DNA-binding domain. In this work, we found that SHP expression is abundant in murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 but suppressed by oxLDL and its constituent I3-HODE, a ligand for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor y. Furthermore, SHP acted as a transcription coactivator of nuclear factor-$\kappa$B (NF$\kappa$B) and was essential for the previously described NF$\kappa$B transactivation by lysoPC, one of the oxLDL constituents. Accordingly, NF$\kappa$B, transcriptionally active in the beginning, became progressively inert in oxLDL-treated RAW 264.7 cells, as oxLDL decreased the SHP expression. Thus, SHP appears to be an important modulatory component to regulate the transcriptional activities of NF$\kappa$B in oxLDL-treated, resting macrophage cells.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.355-369
• /
• 2004

The equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) immediate-early (IE) protein is a potent transactivator responsible for the activation of both early and late genes during the course of infection and is comprised of discrete functional domains that mediate its many functions. Interaction between trans activators such as the IE protein and various components of the RNA polymerase II transcription initiation machinery has been demonstrated to be critical for transactivation. In the present report, it is addressed the hypothesis that the IE protein interacts with various components of transcription machinery to mediate transactivation of target viral genes. In these studies, it is demonstrated that in vitro transcribed and translated IE protein interacts with TFIIB-agarose conjugate but not with TFIID-agarose conjugate. Additional immunoprecipitation studies using nuclear extracts derived from EHV-1 infected RK-13 cells confirmed that the IE protein interacts strongly with TFIIB, but fails to interact with TFIID. IR2, a truncated form of the IE protein lacking the potent transactivation domain and involved in the down-regulation of the IE gene, also interacted with TFIIB but not with TFIID. Studies were also performed to ascertain if particular TBP-associated factors (TAFs) could mediate IE or IR2 binding to TFIID. In vitro transcribed and translated TAF250 added to nuclear extracts generated from EHV-1 infected cells also failed to mediate an interaction between the IE protein or the IR2 protein and TFIID. This study demonstrated that the IE protein mediates transactivation of target viral genes by a mechanism that involves TFIIB. This is in contrast to mechanisms that have been proposed for both the herpes simplex virus ICP4 and VP16 protein which have been proposed to transactivate viral genes through interactions involving both TFIIB and TFIID. This study also intimates that IR2 mediate its repressive effects during the course of EHV-1 infection by a mechanism that involves sequestration of various transcription factors.