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J Biol Chem, Vol. 273, Issue 52, 35208-35215, December 25, 1998
From the Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
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ABSTRACT |
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Arg-Ser-rich domain-containing proteins (SR
proteins), a family of splicing factors, can regulate pre-mRNA
alternative splicing in a concentration dependent manner. Thus, the
relative expression of various SR proteins may play an important role
in alternative splicing regulation. HRS/SRp40, an SR protein and
delayed early gene in liver regeneration, can mediate alternative
splicing of fibronectin mRNA. Here we determined that transcription
of the HRS/SRp40 gene is induced about 5-fold during liver
regeneration, similar to the level of steady-state mRNA. We found
that both mouse and human HRS promoters lack TATA and CAAT
boxes. The mouse promoter region from SR proteins1 are a
conserved family of splicing factors that function both as alternative
splicing regulators and basal splicing factors (1, 2). At present,
eight SR proteins have been identified and characterized (2). All of
these proteins share two common characteristics: one or two RNA binding
domains at the amino terminus and one Arg-Ser-rich domain at the
carboxyl terminus. As alternative splicing regulators, SR proteins have been shown to regulate various forms of alternative splicing including exon inclusion, alternative 5' splicing site selection, and alternative 3' splicing site selection in both in vitro and in
vivo assays (3-13).
In our initial studies of hepatic growth, we isolated the
HRS/SRp40 (hereafter referred to as HRS)
cDNA, which encodes an SR protein and is a highly induced immediate
early gene in insulin-treated rat hepatoma H35 cells (14).
HRS mRNA is induced as a delayed early gene during liver
regeneration with peak expression in rat liver at 6-8 h and
approximately 5-fold induction (14). Furthermore, HRS
mRNA expression is high in developing liver, especially prior to
birth, when it is elevated 100-fold relative to normal adult liver
(15). We showed that HRS expression correlates with the expression of
EIIIB+ fibronectin pre-mRNA in proliferating liver. HRS
can directly bind to a purine-rich enhancer in the fibronectin EIIIB
exon and mediate fibronectin EIIIB exon inclusion in in vivo
splicing assays (15). Changes in the level of fibronectin isoforms
could play a critical role in reorganizing liver architecture during
liver regeneration and development.
Distinct patterns of SR protein expression during development, cell
differentiation, and cell proliferation determine alternative splicing
decisions (15, 16). The expression of SR genes has been shown to be
regulated at the transcriptional level (1, 17). However, the mechanism
of transcriptional regulation of SR genes remains largely unknown. To
understand how HRS gene expression is regulated, we analyzed
the mouse HRS promoter. We found that the region from Rat Tissue Preparation--
For regenerating liver, female
Fisher rats (160-220 g, Charles River) or normal C57Bl6 mice were
metofane (Pitman-Moore, Inc.)-anesthetized and subjected to midventral
laparotomy with approximately 70% liver (left lateral and median
lobes) (19).
Cell Culture and Transient Transfections--
Human hepatoma
HepG2 and mouse fibroblast NIH 3T3 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's
modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 2 mM L-glutamine and 100 units of penicillin and
50 units of streptomycin (Life Technologies Inc.). The transient transfection was performed by the calcium phosphate method as described
(20). Cells were plated on 60-mm plates at a density of 2 × 105 cells/plate and transfected with the indicated amount
of reporter plasmids and expression plasmids along with 2 µg of
pRSV- Nuclear Run-on Assays--
Nuclei were prepared as reported
previously (21). Nuclear run-on assays were carried out by following
the method described (22). We used RNA, Northern Blot, and RNase Protection Assays--
The RNase
protection assay was carried out by using the RPA II kit from Ambion.
To prepare the riboprobe, the EcoRI-TthIII fragment, which covers the first exon and putative 700 bp of
5'-flanking sequence, was cloned into the pGEM4 vector, linearized with
EcoRI, and in vitro transcribed with T7 RNA
polymerase by adding [32P]UTP. The labeled probe was
purified on urea-denatured 5% polyacrylamide gel. 2 × 104 cpm was hybridized with 10 µg of total RNA from NIH
3T3 cells. Primer extensions analyses were performed as we have
described (23) using a primer, 5'-GTAGTCTGCGACGGAGCTGTCTGCCT-3', from the first exon region of the mouse gene and mouse regenerating liver RNA.
Immunoblots--
The total liver nuclei were prepared as
described (15). Briefly, the liver nuclei were resuspended in 1×
SDS/sample buffer (62.5 mM Tris, pH 6.8, 0.1% SDS, 72 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, and 10% glycerol, without bromphenol
blue). The protein concentration was determined by
A280. For immunoblots, 10 µg of total nuclear proteins in each lane were separated on 8% SDS-polyacrylamide gel. The
proteins were transferred onto a nitrocellulose membrane and probed
with 1:1000 diluted antibodies. Horse rabbit peroxidase-conjugated goat
anti-rabbit immunoglobulin secondary antibody and a chemiluminescence detection system (Amersham Corp.) were used.
Plasmid Constructs--
To clone the mouse HRS
promoter into pGL2-basic, the 1.5-kb fragment between
Site-directed mutagenesis at GABP and YY1 sites was also performed by
overlapping extension PCR. All of the mutations were made in pGL-0.1
(Fig. 2). The oligonucleotides were as follows: for mutating the YY1
site, mYY1 (5'-AGGACGTCCTTAAATTTTGTGCAACG-3') and mYY2
(5'-ACGTTGCACAAAATTTAAGGACGTCC-3'); for mutating the GABP site, GA-M1
(5'- ACCGCCCTGCAGTGACGCCAGG-3') and GA-M2
(5'-TCCTGGCGTCACTGCAGGGCGG-3'); and constant primers, HRSBgl
(5'-CGGCTGAGATCTGGAGAGGTCCG-3') and pGLp1
(5'-TGTATCTTATGGTACTGGTACTGTAACTG-3').
pGL-0.1 was first amplified with primers mYY1/HRSBgl or mYY2/pGLp1 and
GA-M1/HRS40Bgl or GA-M2/pGLp1. The resultant PCR products were purified
and mixed and further amplified with pGLp1 and HRSBgl. The final PCR
products were digested with MluI-BglII and
cloned into pGL-basic between MluI and BglII
sites. All of the mutations were verified by DNA sequence analysis.
Preparation of Nuclear Extracts--
HepG2 cells were grown as
described above, and about 1-2 × 108 cells were used
to prepare nuclear extract exactly as described by Kramer
(25). Briefly, HepG2 cells were collected in 25 ml of cold
PBS and pelleted. After washing with 1 ml of buffer A (10 mM HEPES-KOH (pH 7.9), 1.5 mM
MgCl2, 10 mM KCl, 0.5 mM
dithiothreitol), the cells were resuspended into 0.5 ml of buffer A. The cells were lysed with a 1-ml syringe with a 25-gauge × Gel Mobility Shift Assays--
EMSAs were performed with nuclear
extract from HepG2 cells or rat liver (26). Typically, 5 µg of
nuclear extracts were incubated with 2 µg of poly(dI-dC),
104 cpm of labeled probe in 12 mM HEPES, pH
7.6, 12% glycerol, 4 mM Tris, 60 mM KCl, 1 mM EDTA, and 1 mM dithiothreitol in a 20-µl volume at room temperature for 20 min. For competition experiments, a
50-fold excess of cold oligonucleotides was added to the reaction mixture. For supershift, 1 µl of the indicated antibodies were added
to the reaction mixture. The DNA-protein complex was separated on 5%
native polyacrylamide gel in 0.5× TBE at 4 °C. Anti-YY1 antibody
was purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. (Santa Cruz, CA), and
anti-GABP
The sequences of double-stranded oligonucleotides were as follows: wild
type YY1, 5'-AGGACGTCCTTCCATTTTGTGCAACG-3'; mutant YY1,
5'-AGGACGTCCTTAAATTTTGTGCAACG-3'; wild type GABP,
5'-ACCGCCCCGGAAGTGACGCCAGG-3'; mutant GABP,
5'-ACCGCCAACGAAGTGACGCCAGG-3'.
The oligonucleotides were synthesized by Life Technologies, Inc. The
two complementary oligonucleotides were annealed and purified through
12% native polyacrylamide gel and then labeled with 32P by
T4 nucleotide kinase.
Transcriptional Control of HRS Gene Expression--
HRS
mRNA is induced during liver regeneration with peak expression at
6-8 h in rat liver and approximately 5-fold induction (14, 15). Since
RNA abundance may be controlled by both transcriptional and
posttranscriptional mechanisms, the transcriptional activity of the
HRS gene was assessed using nuclear run-on assays (Fig. 1). Transcription of HRS was
increased at 2 and 6 h posthepatectomy (about 5-fold) and not
increased at 30 min, consistent with the delayed early induction of
HRS (14). As a control, the transcription of
Lack of TATA and CAAT Boxes in the HRS Promoter--
RNase
protection and primer extension assays were used to map the
transcription initiation site of the mouse HRS gene (Fig. 2A), which is indicated as +1
(Fig. 2B). We sequenced a 1.5-kb upstream region of the
predicted transcription initiation site in both the human and mouse
HRS genes (GenBankTM accession numbers are
AF020307 (human HRS gene) and AF020308 (mouse HRS
gene)). Based on the location of the RNA initiation site, neither human
nor mouse HRS promoters appear to contain TATA or CAAT
boxes. With extensive alignment analysis between the human and mouse
HRS genes, two regions of strong homology were found
upstream of the RNA initiation site and not in more 5' upstream regions
(Fig. 2B). Two regions of identity contained a putative YY1
binding site (27) and an EFT4 or GABP binding site (28, 29).
Additionally, there were two identical regions between The Region of the HRS Promoter between Regulation of HRS Promoter by YY1 and GABP--
The
To confirm that HepG2 nuclear extracts contain YY1, which is able to
interact with the predicted YY1 binding site in the HRS promoter, we carried out EMSAs using HepG2 cell nuclear extracts and an
oligonucleotide probe corresponding to the YY1 binding site in the
HRS promoter. One specific DNA-protein binding complex was
detected (Fig. 4B, lane 2). This
complex could be competed off by excess cold wild type probe but not by
mutant oligonucleotides (lanes 3 and
4). Anti-YY1 antibody, not anti-Sp1 antibody, partly supershifted but primarily disrupted this band (lanes
5 and 6). Taken together, these data suggested
that YY1 specifically binds to the YY1 binding site in the
HRS promoter and functions as a transcriptional repressor.
To further demonstrate the repression of the HRS promoter by
YY1 in HepG2 cells, we cotransfected the HRS promoter
construct (pGL-0.1) with a pCMV-YY1 expression plasmid to determine
whether overexpression of YY1 can further repress the HRS
promoter. Overexpression of YY1 efficiently repressed the
HRS promoter construct (Fig. 4C). As a control,
overexpression of YY1 did not affect pGL2-basic or pGL2-promoter
luciferase activity. Furthermore, YY1-mediated repression was dependent
on the presence of an intact YY1 binding site, because the activity of
the pGL-0.1mYY1 reporter was not affected by cotransfection with
pCMV-YY1. Since E1A can transform YY1 from a transcriptional repressor
to an activator, we predicted that overexpression of E1A would activate
the HRS promoter. As shown (Fig. 4D),
overexpression of E1A activated the HRS promoter about
5-fold, and activation of the HRS promoter by E1A was
abolished when the YY1 binding site was mutated. As a control, E1A did
not affect pGL2-basic and pGL2-promoter luciferase activity. All of these data are consistent with the finding that YY1 functions as a
repressor of the HRS promoter.
GABP is an ETS transcription factor initially isolated as a
transcription factor that recognizes a site important for herpes simplex virus type I immediate early gene activation. GABP is composed
of two subunits:
Together pCMV-GABP The Expression of GABP and YY1 in Regenerating
Liver--
HRS is induced as a delayed early gene with
approximately 5-fold transcriptional induction during liver
regeneration (Fig. 1). Since both GABP and YY1 regulate HRS
gene expression, we wondered whether there were changes in GABP or YY1
levels during liver regeneration that might explain the increase in
HRS gene transcription. We did not detect any change in the
overall binding activity or the level of YY1 protein (Fig.
6, A and B). Of
note, a smaller YY1 DNA binding complex was detected in EMSAs (
Two DNA binding complexes were detected in liver nuclear extracts when
the GABP binding site was used as a probe (Fig. 6C). These
two complexes corresponded to the GABP The Effect of YY1, GABP, and C/EBP
IL-6 mediates an early signal that is required for normal liver
regeneration (18), and IL-6 is able to activate intracellular signals
via both STAT and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. HRS mRNA expression is reduced by about 2-fold from
4-16 h posthepatectomy in IL-6 The region from GABP specifically bound the GABP binding site within the HRS
promoter and transactivated the HRS promoter. Our data
support previous reports that GABP At least in some cells (HepG2, NIH 3T3), YY1 functions as a
transcriptional repressor of the HRS promoter. Mutation of
the YY1 binding site in the HRS promoter increased
HRS promoter activity, and cotransfection of a YY1
expression vector with the HRS promoter reduced
HRS promoter activity. YY1-mediated repression was reversed by oncoprotein E1A via an intact YY1 site. After adenovirus infection, viral proteins are produced largely due to alternative splicing of
viral transcripts. It is likely that changes in relative expression of
SR proteins mediate viral pre-mRNA alternative splicing (7, 54).
Coincidentally, SV40 T antigen has similar activity (55), and it is
possible that T antigen could also activate HRS expression. Of note, HRS protein expression is elevated in SV40-transformed human
WI38 fibroblasts (56).
Since there is an excess amount of GABP YY1 can interact with different cellular proteins, and its repression
or activation function appears to be modulated by specific protein-protein interactions (57, 58). The activity of YY1 may be
modulated by growth factor action, cytokines, and other types of
cellular induction such as viral infection. For example, the
interaction between YY1 and CREB is required by YY1 to repress the
c-fos promoter (59), and the interaction between YY1 and CEBP IL-6 confers a positive mitogenic signal during liver regeneration and
is able to relieve YY1 site-mediated repression of the HRS
promoter. It is possible that intracellular signals generated by IL-6
and other growth factors that play a role in liver regeneration allow
YY1 to interact with other transcription factors and coactivators converting YY1 into a activating factor or at least eliminate its
negative effects. Immediate early genes show dramatic increases in
transcription posthepatectomy, which are mediated by major changes in
signal-induced transcription by serum response factor, AP-1, STAT3, and
other transcription factors, which are themselves increased severalfold
(67). However, as with the HRS gene, the increase in
transcription of delayed early genes is only a few fold and results
from small changes in the levels of preexisting transcription factors,
combined with posttranslational effects of growth factor-generated signals.
130 to
18, which contains
highly conserved GA-binding protein (GABP) and YY1 binding sites,
conferred high transcriptional activity. While GABP
/GABP
heterodimer transactivated the HRS promoter, YY1 functioned
as a repressor. During liver regeneration, the relative amount of
GABP
/GABP
heterodimer increased 3-fold, and YY1 changed little,
which could partially account for the increase in HRS gene
transcription. Interleukin-6, a critical mitogenic component of liver
regeneration, was able to relieve the repressive activity of the YY1
site within the HRS promoter. The combined effect of small
changes in the level of existing transcription factors and mitogenic
signals may explain the transcriptional activation of the
HRS gene during cell growth.
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INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
130
to
18 of the HRS promoter contained high promoter activity
in HepG2 cells. We further demonstrated that GABP
/GABP
heterodimer and YY1 regulate HRS gene expression positively and negatively, respectively. Whereas the level of YY1 changes little
during liver regeneration, the relative level of GABP
/
heterodimer increases. Interleukin-6, which confers a positive growth
stimulus in liver regeneration (18), can relieve YY1 repression. The
combination of these effects provides a potential mechanism for
HRS gene induction during liver regeneration.
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
-galactosidase for normalization of transfection efficiency.
The DNA precipitate was incubated with the cells overnight (usually
14-16 h). The cells were harvested with 1× Reporter Lysis Buffer
(Promega), and the luciferase assay was performed on a Luminat
luminometer (Wallace Inc.). IL-6 was added at 50 ng/ml for 4 h
where indicated.
2-microglobulin as a
positive control and Bluescript SK(
) as negative control.
1.5 kb and +100
bp was amplified by PCR with primer 5'- CGGCTGAGATCTGGAGAGGTCCG-3 and
Sp6 primer from pG7-6 (24). The amplified fragment was filled in with
T4 DNA polymerase and digested with BglII. The resulting DNA
fragment was cloned into pGL2-basic between the BglII and
NheI (blunted) sites. To construct pGL-0.4 and -0.8, the
amplified fragment was digested with BglII and
NheI or digested with EcoRI first and then filled in and digested with BglII. To construct pGL-r0.8, the
BglII/EcoRI-blunted fragment was ligated into
pGL2-basic BglII/HindIII-blunted sites. To
construct pGEM-0.8, the amplified fragment was digested with EcoRI and BglII and cloned into the
EcoRI and BamHI sites of pGEM4. The plasmid
pGL-5.3 was constructed as follows. Mouse genomic DNA from the
HRS gene phage clone was digested with EcoRI. The 5'-flanking 4.6-kb EcoRI fragment was cloned into pGEM4. The
5' EcoRI site was then blunted, and the resulting blunted
EcoRI fragment was cloned into the KpnI (blunted)
and EcoRI site in pGL-1.5. To construct pGL-2.7, pGL-5.3 was
digested with SmaI and KpnI, and the
KpnI site was blunted. Then the resulting 8.7-kb fragment was religated. Further deletions of pGL-0.4 were made using Bal-31 nuclease. SstI-linearized pGL-0.4 was incubated with Bal-31
nuclease at 30 °C. The reaction was stopped at 3-min intervals and
then digested with BglII. The resulting DNA fragments were
separated on an 8% native polyacrylamide gel, and DNA fragments were
eluted into 0.5 M NH4Ac and 1 mM
EDTA. After ethanol precipitation, the deletion fragments were cloned
into pGL-basic between BlgII and NheI (blunted) sites.
-inch hypodermic needle. The nuclei were resuspended into 0.2 ml of buffer C (20 mM HEPES-KOH (pH 7.9), 25% glycerol,
0.42 M NaCl, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 0.2 mM EDTA, 0.5 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 1 µg/ml pepsin). The nuclear extracts were dialyzed against 400 ml of
buffer D (20 mM HEPES-KOH (pH 7.9), 20% glycerol, 0.1 M KCl, 0.2 mM EDTA, 0.5 mM
dithiothreitol). The liver nuclear extract was prepared as reported
(18). Briefly, the liver nuclei were suspended into 0.5 ml of buffer C,
and the nuclear extracts were dialyzed against buffer D. The protein
concentration of nuclear extracts was determined by a method from
Bio-Rad. The nuclear extract was divided into 50-µl aliquots and then
stored at
80 °C.
and GABP
antibodies were gifts from Steven McKnight
(University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX).
![]()
RESULTS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
2-microglobulin did not change appreciably during this
time period, whereas that of the IGFBP-1 gene, an immediate
early gene in liver regeneration, was increased about 14-fold at 30 min, consistent with earlier studies (22).

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Fig. 1.
Transcriptional regulation of HRS
expression in regenerating liver. A nuclear run-on assay was
performed on nuclei from regenerating rat liver. Bluescript and
2-microglobulin were used as negative and positive
control, respectively. Times after hepatectomy are indicated. Time 0 is
normal liver.
18 and +44,
and there are putative GABP and Sp1 sites in the mouse promoter that
were incompletely conserved in the human gene.

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Fig. 2.
Localization of HRS gene RNA
initiation site and mouse and human HRS promoter region
sequence. A, left, RNase protection assay to map the
HRS gene transcription initiation site. The RNase protection
probe is indicated at the bottom, and described under
"Materials and Methods." The sequencing ladder shown is of HRS-LF
rat cDNA primed with GATTACGTCTAGACCGGC (24). The RNA used was from
NIH 3T3 cells, and yeast tRNA served as control. Right,
primer extension analysis of RNA from regenerating mouse liver at
indicated times posthepatectomy as described under "Materials and
Methods." In mouse liver, peak expression of the HRS gene
extends to 16 h posthepatectomy (41). The sequencing ladder is
M13mp18 with universal primer. B, alignment of human and
mouse HRS promoters. The conserved GABP and YY1 binding
sites are boxed, and the nonconserved Sp1 and reverse GABP
sites are indicated by hatched boxes.
130 and
18 bp
Demonstrates High Transcriptional Activity in HepG2 Cells--
We
chose HepG2 cells to further analyze the transcriptional control of the
HRS gene, because HRS is highly expressed in
HepG2 cells, and HepG2 cells represent a fetal liver phenotype (Fig. 3A). To test the ability of
the predicted region to function as a promoter, we first cloned the 0.7 kb of 5'-flanking sequence of the HRS gene which included
part of the first exon into a pGL2-basic luciferase reporter vector in
both sense and antisense orientations (Fig. 3B). As shown
(Fig. 3B), only sense pGL-0.8kb showed high luciferase
activity, indicating that this region contains the HRS
promoter and that the HRS promoter is
orientation-dependent (comparing pGL-0.8 and pGL-r0.8). To
further examine HRS promoter activity, we cloned up to 5 kb
of 5'-flanking sequence and performed a series of deletion mutations.
There was no significant change in promoter activity when the deletion
extended from
5.3 kb to
130 bp, suggesting that there are no major
regulatory element(s) in this region, at least in HepG2 cells. When the
deletion was extended to
60 bp, the promoter activity dropped about
2.5-fold, which could be explained by loss of the upstream antisense
GABP site and predicted Sp1 site (see Fig. 2B). Further
deletion (to
56 bp) virtually abolished HRS promoter
activity. These data predict that the sequences between
130 and
18
bp of the HRS promoter contain critical regulatory
element(s), consistent with the high sequence homology of this region.
Using these deletion constructs in transiently transfected mouse NIH
3T3 fibroblasts, similar results were obtained, implying that this
regulation was not limited to liver cells (data not shown).

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Fig. 3.
5' to 3' deletion analysis of HRS
promoter activity. A, Northern blot analysis of
HRS gene expression showing relative expression in HepG2,
H35, and normal liver. 32P-Labeled rat
HRS--SF was used as probe. Hybridization was
under high stringency. B, deletion analysis of the
HRS promoter activity in HepG2 cells. The plasmids were
constructed as described under "Materials and Methods." 2 µg of
luciferase constructs were transiently transfected by the calcium
phosphate precipitation method along with 2 µg of
pRSV-
-galactosidase construct as an internal control for
transfection efficiency. Luciferase activity was normalized to
-galactosidase activity in the same transfection. The luciferase
activity is presented as relative percentage, which that of pGL-5.3 set
as 100. The value is from at least three separate transfections. The
error bars represent the S.D. pGL-B,
pGL2-Basic; pGL-C, pGL2-Control (SV40).
130/+100
promoter construct (pGL-0.1) exhibited significant promoter activity in
transfected cells. Sequence analysis revealed conserved YY1 and GABP
binding sites in this region of the HRS promoter. We
analyzed these two binding sites in further detail. YY1 is a zinc
finger transcription factor that was initially identified as a
transcriptional repressor of the P5 promoter. YY1-mediated repression
can be converted to activation in the presence of adenoviral protein
E1A (30-32). Depending on the promoter context and cell type, YY1 can
be either a transcriptional activator or repressor (33-35). To test
how YY1 regulates the HRS promoter, the YY1 binding site was
mutated, with the CC changed into AA (Fig.
4A). Previous studies of the
P5 promoter showed that this mutation abolishes YY1 regulatory activity
(27). This mutation increased HRS promoter activity about
3-fold, suggesting that the YY1 site confers transcriptional repression
of the HRS promoter in HepG2 cells. Again, this effect was
not cell type-specific in that the YY1 mutation increased reporter
activity by about 10-fold in transfected NIH 3T3 cells (not shown).

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Fig. 4.
YY1 functions as a transcriptional repressor
of the HRS promoter. A, mutated YY1 binding
site increases HRS promoter activity. The mutation of the
YY1 binding site and the sequence of oligonucleotides used in EMSAs are
depicted. The positions of oligonucleotides are indicated relative to
the mouse HRS promoter (transcription initiation site is
designated as +1). Transfection and luciferase assays were performed as
in Fig. 3. The data are shown as -fold activity relative to wild type
promoter (pGL-0.1), which was set at 1. The data were from three
different cotransfection experiments. B, EMSAs demonstrated
that YY1 specifically binds to the YY1 binding site in the
HRS promoter. Lane 1, no nuclear
extract. In competition assays, binding reactions were performed with
either a 50× molar excess of wild type oligonucleotide
(lane 3) or mutant oligonucleotide
(lane 4). In supershift assays, the binding
reactions were carried out either with anti-YY1 antibody
(lane 5) or anti-Sp1 antibody (lane
6). C, overexpression of YY1 represses the
HRS promoter in HepG2 cells. The data are shown as
percentage of control activity relative to each reporter cotransfected
with pCMV vector, set at 100%. HepG2 cells were
cotransfected with 1 µg of each reporter and different amounts of
indicated expression vector (pCMV-YY1) or 2 µg of pCMV vector along
with 2 µg of pRSV-
-galactosidase as an internal control.
D, overexpression of E1A activates the HRS
promoter. The data are shown as -fold activity relative to the activity
set at 1 of each reporter control when cotransfected with pCMV vector
alone. For C and D, the data were from three
different transfection assays with S.D. values shown.
and
(36, 37). GABP
, which contains the DNA
binding domain, interacts with GABP
to form an active heterodimer
(36-39). Initial deletion mutation studies showed that deleting part
of the putative GABP binding site dramatically decreased HRS
promoter activity (Fig. 3). To test the possible role of GABP in
HRS promoter activity, we mutated the GABP binding site in the HRS promoter in plasmid pGL-0.1 and examined how this
mutation affected HRS promoter activity in HepG2 cells. As
shown (Fig. 5A), this mutation
decreased basal HRS promoter activity by about 15-fold. To
examine whether GABP from HepG2 nuclear extract bound to the predicted
GABP site in the HRS promoter, EMSAs were performed with an
oligonucleotide probe corresponding to the HRS GABP binding site (Fig. 5B). A major retarded band was detected
(lane 2). This band could be competed off by wild
type but not mutant oligonucleotides. In EMSA experiments
performed with antibodies specific to GABP
and -
as well as
anti-Sp1 antibody, only anti-GABP
and -GABP
antibodies
(lanes 5 and 6) disrupted the DNA
binding complex. These data indicated that GABP bound to the site as a
heterodimer.

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Fig. 5.
GABP functions as a transcriptional activator
of the HRS promoter. A, mutation of the
GABP binding site decreases HRS promoter activity.
Site-directed mutation of the GABP binding site (mGABP) and
the sequence of oligonucleotides used in EMSAs are shown. The position
of oligonucleotides is indicated in the mouse HRS promoter
(transcription initiation site is designated as +1). The data are shown
relative to pGL0.1 reporter, which was set at 100. The data were from
three different co-transfection experiments. B, EMSAs
demonstrate that GABP specifically binds to the HRS GABP
site. A radiolabeled HRS GABP site (A) was used
as probe. The experiments were performed essentially as in Fig. 4.
Antibodies were as follows: GABP
(
; lane 5); GABP
(
; lane 6); Sp1 (lane 7).
C, GABP
and
synergistically activate the
HRS promoter. The data are shown as -fold activity relative
to each reporter plus pCMV vector, which was set at 1. HepG2 cells were
cotransfected with 1 µg of indicated reporter vector and either 1 µg of indicated GABP expression plasmids or the pCMV vector. The data
were from three different cotransfection experiments with S.D. values
shown.
and -
activated the HRS promoter up
to 5-fold. GABP
alone slightly inhibited HRS promoter
activity, and GABP
alone slightly activated the HRS
promoter (Fig. 5C). These data are consistent with the
previous finding that GABP
and -
synergistically activate gene
expression (38). The fact that GABP
alone slightly inhibited the
HRS promoter while GABP
alone slightly activated the
HRS promoter suggested that there is a limiting amount of
GABP
in HepG2 cells.
YY1),
and a 23-kDa peptide was detected in immunoblots of regenerating liver
nuclear extracts (data not shown). The
YY1 DNA binding complex is
probably an experimental artifact, since inconsistent results were
obtained from different regenerating nuclear extracts (data not shown), and a single undegraded YY1 peptide was detected in an immunoblot of
total liver nuclear protein that had been immediately suspended in SDS
loading buffer (Fig. 6B).

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Fig. 6.
Expression of YY1 and GABP during liver
regeneration. A, YY1 binding activity in regenerating
liver. The EMSAs were carried out with 5 µg of liver nuclear extracts
at the indicated times posthepatectomy. B, immunoblot of
regenerating liver total liver nuclei probed with an anti-YY1 antibody.
C, GABP binding activity in regenerating liver at indicated
times posthepatectomy (lanes 6-10). The EMSAs
were performed with 5 µg of liver nuclear extracts. Antibody
supershifts and competitions are as in Fig. 4. D, immunoblot
of total liver nuclear proteins probed with a mixed anti-GABP antibody
that detects both GABP
and -
.
/
heterodimer and GABP
monomer (
:
and
in Fig. 6C), because both complexes
were competed off by wild type oligonucleotides and the lower band supershifted only with anti-GABP
antibody (lanes
2 and 3 in Fig. 6C). The GABP
monomer band decreased during liver regeneration by about 3-fold. An
immunoblot of nuclear proteins from regenerating liver was probed with
a mixture of anti-GABP
and GABP
antibodies (Fig. 6D)
indicated that an increase in the level of GABP
by 3-8 h
posthepatectomy could explain the relative increase in the GABP
/
heterodimer. As predicted by Fig. 5C, an increase in the ratio of GABP
/
heterodimer to GABP
homodimer could explain at
least some of the transcriptional up-regulation of the HRS gene.
on the Net Activation of the
HRS Promoter--
Like E1A, C/EBP
may transform YY1 from a dominant
repressor into a transcriptional activator (40). This activity is
dependent on an interaction among C/EBP
, YY1, and the DNA binding
site. We showed that C/EBP
protein expression increases in the
regenerating liver in a time course that is consistent with the
transcriptional activation of the HRS gene (21) and have
found a decrease in HRS expression in CEBP
/
livers
posthepatectomy (41). However, little direct effect of C/EBP
on
HRS promoter constructs was observed in transfected HepG2
cells. In transfected NIH 3T3 cells, C/EBP
was partially able to
relieve YY1-mediated repression (not shown). The complex
posttranscriptional regulation of C/EBP
in HepG2 cells may explain
the inability to demonstrate a positive effect of CEBP
on
HRS promoter reporters (42).
/
livers (not shown). IL-6 treatment
of transfected HepG2 cells eliminated YY1-mediated repression, and this
effect was dependent on an intact YY1 element (Fig.
7).

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Fig. 7.
Effects of YY1 and IL-6 in the regulation of
the HRS promoter. HepG2 cells were cotransfected with
1 µg of either pGL-0.1 or pGL-0.1mYY1 as indicated. The value of the
pGL-0.1 reporter was set at 1 in one of the duplicate samples in two
separate experiments, and S.D. values are shown. IL-6 was added as
described under "Materials and Methods" for 4 h prior to
harvesting. Normalization was to
-galactosidase.
![]()
DISCUSSION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
130 to
18 bp of the HRS promoter
had high transcriptional activity. Deletion of the region from
130 to
60 bp reduced promoter activity by 2.5-fold and could be explained by
the loss of an antisense GABP element at
130 and Sp1 element adjacent
to the
59 GABP site. Sp1 has been found to potentiate GABP
transcription (43). Two conserved transcription factor binding sites in
this region, YY1 and GABP, strongly regulated HRS gene
expression, YY1 acting as a repressor and GABP as an activator.
and -
synergistically
transactivate gene expression. GABP belongs to the ETS family of
transcription factors, which bind to the consensus sequence (CGGAAGTG),
an important element in the polyoma virus enhancer and viral late gene
initiator element (29). GABP has been shown to be important in the
expression of several genes such as the IL-2 receptor
-chain gene
(44), cytochrome c oxidase Vb (45, 46), and
-chain gene
(47). In all these genes, the GABP binding site is found close to the transcription initiation sites, which lack TATA boxes. In this promoter
context, as postulated, GABP may function as both a transcription activator and a basal transcription factor (48). Most SR proteins have
been shown to be highly expressed in spleen and thymus (49). Coincidentally, GABP has been implicated in activating genes such as
CD18 (48, 50) and T cell receptor
(51) and is necessary for
thymus-specific expression of the
-chain promoter (47). It has been
reported that both SC35 and 9G8 promoters contain putative GABP binding sites (52, 53). Therefore, GABP could function as
a common transcription factor to enforce the high expression of SR
proteins in hematopoietic tissues. However, unlike the SC35
and 9G8 SR protein promoters, which have typical TATA boxes, the HRS promoter lacks both TATA and CAAT boxes (52, 53). Distinct differences in the regulatory sequences
controlling the HRS, SC35, and 9G8
genes provide a basis for differential expression.
subunit in liver that acts
as a negative transcriptional regulator, we predicted that increased
GABP
expression would lead to increased HRS gene expression during liver regeneration. In fact, the GABP
expression increased only slightly but sufficiently to increase the relative level
of GABP
/
heterodimer by 3-fold, eliminating most of the GABP
homodimer. We did not detect a change in the YY1 level during liver
regeneration. Therefore, the changes in levels of GABP and YY1 appeared
to explain some, but not all, of the up-regulation of the
HRS gene during liver regeneration.
is required to activate human papillomavirus type 18 promoter (40). The conversion of YY1 from repressor to activator by E1A appears
to be dependent on a member of the coactivator family, p300/CBP (31,
60, 61). Both E1A and YY1 bind to p300 at different sites, and it is
postulated that the addition of E1A to the p300-YY1 complex masks the
repressor domain of YY1. p300/CBP can interact with various cellular
and viral proteins such as CREB (62), p53 (63), pp90RSK (64), E1A (31,
65), T antigen (55), and the C/EBPs (66), many of which also interact
with YY1.
| |
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
|---|
We thank S. McKnight for GABP expression vector and antibodies and Mike Atchison for the YY1 expression plasmid.
| |
FOOTNOTES |
|---|
* This work was supported in part by a Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Award and National Institutes of Health Grants R01 DK44237 and P50 DK49210 (to R. T.).
The nucleotide sequence(s) reported in this paper has been submitted to the GenBankTM/EMBL Data Bank with accession number(s) AF020307 and AF020308.
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Genetics,
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 705a Stellar-Chance, 422 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104. Tel.: 215-898-9131; Fax: 215-573-2195; E-mail: taubra{at}mail.med.upenn.edu.
The abbreviations used are: SR, Arg-Ser-rich domain-containing protein; HRS and HRS, hepatic Arg-Ser protein and gene, respectively; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; EMSA, eletrophoretic gel mobility shift assay; GABP, GA-binding protein; C/EBP, CAAT enhancer-binding protein; IL, interleukin; bp, base pair(s); kb, kilobase pair(s).
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REFERENCES |
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