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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 280, Issue 18, 18452-18461, May 6, 2005
Protein Kinase C Activates Human Lipocalin-type Prostaglandin D Synthase Gene Expression through De-repression of Notch-HES Signaling and Enhancement of AP-2
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| ABSTRACT |
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10% of normal. The AP-2 element was bound by AP-2
dominantly expressed in TE671 cells, according to the results of electrophoretic mobility shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. L-PGDS expression was induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate in TE671 cells, and this induction was inhibited by a protein kinase C inhibitor. Stimulation of TE671 cells with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate or transfection with protein kinase C
expression vector induced phosphorylation of Hes-1, inhibition of DNA binding of Hes-1 to the N-box, and activation of the AP-2
function to up-regulate L-PGDS gene expression. These results reveal a novel transcriptional regulatory mechanism responsible for the high level expression of the human L-PGDS gene in TE671 cells. | INTRODUCTION |
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-trace; see Ref. 1) was originally purified from rat brain as the enzyme catalyzing the formation of PGD2 from PGH2, a common precursor of all prostanoids (2-5). L-PGDS is a secretory protein that is post-translationally glycosylated (6) and belongs to the lipocalin gene family (3). PGD2 is a major prostanoid in the brain and has numerous physiological functions such as sleep regulation, pain responses, and inflammation (3, 7-9). Besides its function as a PGD2-producing enzyme, L-PGDS also binds various lipophilic molecules, such as retinal, retinoic acid, biliverdin, and bilirubin, with high affinities (10, 11); and it is considered to act as a carrier protein for these compounds, like other proteins of the lipocalin gene family (3, 4, 12). Therefore, L-PGDS is a unique bifunctional protein acting as both PGD2-producing enzyme and lipophilic molecule-binding protein.
Biochemical, physiological, and genetic properties of L-PGDS have been studied extensively in mammals (3-5). The L-PGDS gene has been isolated from human (13), mouse (14), and rat (15) sources. L-PGDS mRNA is highly expressed in the heart (16), male genital organs (17-19), and the central nervous system (20-22). In the brain, L-PGDS is abundantly expressed in the leptomeninges, choroid plexus, and oligodendrocytes (20-22) but shows lower expression in neurons and astrocytes (23, 24). L-PGDS was identified as the second major gene product up-regulated in patients with multiple sclerosis (25) and is induced in stress protein
B-crystallin-positive astrocytes in the active sclerotic plaques of these patients.2 In the gene-manipulated mice, human L-PGDS-overexpressing mice showed abnormality in the regulation of non-rapid eye movement sleep (26) and aggravation of the late phase allergic reactions occurring pathophysiologically in bronchial asthma (27). Moreover, studies using L-PGDS gene knock-out mice demonstrated that L-PGDS plays a critical role in the pain responses (14) and showed that such mice had an abnormal profile of non-rapid eye movement sleep after sleep deprivation (28). Recently, crystallization of recombinant mouse L-PGDS was successful (29), demonstrating that L-PGDS possesses a
-barrel structure consisting of eight
-strands and one
-helix that is highly conserved among the proteins of the lipocalin gene family (30).
There are several reports about the mechanisms regulating the transcription of the L-PGDS genes. For example, thyroid hormone activates L-PGDS gene expression through a thyroid hormone-responsive element in human TE671 cells derived from a cerebellar medulloblastoma (31). Dexamethasone induces L-PGDS gene transcription via glucocorticoid receptor in mouse neuronal GT1-7 cells (23). 17
-Estradiol regulates L-PGDS gene expression in a tissue-specific manner. In the heart, L-PGDS gene expression is activated through estrogen receptor
(32) and oppositely inhibited in the ventrolateral preoptic area, which is the critical area for PGD2-mediated sleep induction (24). Recently, we found that rat L-PGDS gene expression is down-regulated by Hes-1, a mammalian homologue of Drosophila Hairy and enhancer of split, and enhanced by interleukin-1
in the rat primary cultured leptomeningeal cells (33). However, the physiological role of the Notch-Hes signaling in the regulation of L-PGDS gene expression and the mechanisms involved in high level expression of the L-PGDS gene in various types of cells are still unknown.
To approach the molecular mechanisms for the cell type-specific transcriptional regulation and high level expression of the human L-PGDS gene, we analyzed the expression of the human L-PGDS gene at the transcription level in TE671 cells. The N-box in the human L-PGDS gene promoter is a cell type-specific cis-element that is bound with the transcriptional repressor, Hes-1, in vivo as well as in vitro. Both the intracellular domain of Notch-1 (NICD) and Hes-1 significantly repressed L-PGDS gene expression. Moreover, knock-down of Hes-1 mRNA by RNA interference (RNAi) caused an increase in L-PGDS gene expression. We also found that the AP-2 element acts as a cis-element for transcriptional activation. Furthermore, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-activated protein kinase C (PKC) inhibits Hes-1 binding to the N-box by phosphorylation of Hes-1 and enhanced AP-2
function. PKC overcomes the Notch-Hes signaling-mediated repression and enhances AP-2
activity, thus resulting in high level expression of the human L-PGDS gene in TE671 cells.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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RNA AnalysisPreparation of total RNA and cDNA synthesis was carried out as described (34). PCR amplification was conducted by using ExTaq DNA polymerase (Takara Shuzo, Kyoto, Japan) under the following conditions: initial denaturation at 95 °C for 3 min, followed by 28-35 cycles of 94 °C for 20 s, 55 °C for 20 s, and 74 °C for 30-90 s. Primers used in this study are described (35) and listed in Table I. The resultant PCR products were analyzed by electrophoresis in an agarose gel (1.5%).
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0.8 kb from -730 to +75) of the gene by conducting promoter luciferase reporter assays. The promoter regions were amplified by PCR with the gene-specific primer set with XhoI (sense) or HindIII (antisense) sites at their respective 5'-end and human genomic DNA as the template. The resultant PCR products were digested with XhoI and HindIII and then inserted into the upstream site of the luciferase reporter gene of the pGL3-Enhancer vector (Promega, Madison, WI). A fragment carrying the promoter region from -730 to +75 was cloned into a pGL3-Enhancer vector to construct "-730/+75." A deletion series was constructed in the same manner. Site-directed mutagenesis of the 5'-flanking region of the L-PGDS gene was performed as described previously (33). All constructs were subjected to nucleotide sequencing to verify the correct sequence and orientation. The cells were transfected with each promoter-luciferase reporter construct (0.3 µg) together with pRL-CMV (0.1 µg; Promega) carrying the Renilla luciferase gene under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter by using Effectene (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) or FuGENE 6 (Roche Diagnostics) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The luciferase activity was measured by using a luciferase assay system (Promega). The reporter activity was calculated by normalizing the firefly luciferase value with that of the Renilla luciferase control vector and expressed relative to that of the pGL3-Enhancer vector, which was defined as 1. All data were obtained from at least three independent experiments. The relative promoter activities were depicted as the mean ± S.D.
Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) and Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) AssayNuclear extracts were prepared by the method of Dignam et al. (36). EMSA was carried out as described (35). Oligonucleotides used for EMSA are listed in Table I.
ChIP assay was performed as described previously (33). Antibodies for Hes-1 and AP-2
were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA). After immunoprecipitation and reverse cross-linking, the recovered DNA was used for PCR amplification with the genespecific primer sets listed in Table I. PCR was conducted under the following conditions: initial denaturation at 95 °C for 3 min, followed by 28-34 cycles of 94 °C for 20 s, 55 °C for 20 s, and 74 °C for 30 s. The resultant PCR products were analyzed by electrophoresis on 2% (w/v) agarose gels.
RNAi-mediated Suppression of Hes-1 mRNASmall interfering RNA was provided by a vector-based system using pSilencer1.0 vector (Ambion, Austin, TX). Small interfering RNA sequence was designed through the program of Ambion web-site (www.ambion.com). The oligonucleotides, 5'-GACAGCATCTGAGCACAGATTCAAGAGATCTGTGCTCAGATGCTGTCTTTTTT-3' and 5'-AATTAAAAAAGACAGCATCTGAGCACAGATCTCTTGAATCTGTGCTCAGATGCTGTCGGCC-3', were mixed and heat-denatured at 90 °C for 15 min, and then stored at room temperature for an additional 3 h. The duplex oligonucleotide was cloned into ApaI/EcoRI-digested pSilencer1.0 vector to obtain pSi-Hes-1. The cloned vector was subjected to nucleotide sequencing to verify the correct sequences. TE671 cells were transfected with the pSi-Hes-1 vector (0.3 µg) with or without each of the -730/+75 or -730/+75 N-box mu constructs (0.1 µg). After 48 h of transfection, the luciferase reporter activity was measured, and RNA was also isolated from the same transfected cells. Luciferase assay and RT-PCR analysis were carried out as described above.
Subcellular FractionationCells were suspended in 10 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 1 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 20 µg/ml leupeptin, 20 µg/ml aprotinin, 20 µg/ml pepstatin, and 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and disrupted by sonication. After centrifugation for 30 min at 12,000 x g, the supernatants were recovered and centrifuged at 100,000 x g for 1 h. The resultant supernatants (cytosolic fraction) were collected. Pellets (membrane fraction) were resuspended in 10 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 0.5% (v/v) Triton X-100, 20 µg/ml leupeptin, 20 µg/ml aprotinin, 20 µg/ml pepstatin, and 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride.
Western Blot AnalysisProtein samples were separated by SDS-PAGE and transferred onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Immobilon P; Millipore, Bedford, MA). The membranes were incubated with specific primary antibodies, washed, and then incubated with second antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Amersham Biosciences). Immunoreactive signals were detected by the use of ECL Western blotting Detection System (Amersham Biosciences) according to the manufacturer's instruction.
In Vivo Phosphorylation and ImmunoprecipitationTE671 cells were transfected with the pcDNA3-Hes-1 vector carrying Hes-1 with the FLAG tag (37) (kindly gifted from Dr. Michael Caudy; Cornell University, New York). After 24 h of transfection, the cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline and cultured for another 4 h in phosphate-free Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10% fetal calf serum and 0.5 µCi/ml [32P]orthophosphate (Amersham Biosciences) in the presence or absence of TPA (100 ng/ml). Prior to TPA treatment, some cells were pretreated for 1 h with the PKC inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide I (Bis). Cells were lysed in 25 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.5, containing 100 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 0.5%(v/v) Triton X-100, 20 µg/ml leupeptin, 20 µg/ml aprotinin, 20 µg/ml pepstatin, 50 µM Na2MoO4, 1 mM NaF, 1 mM Na3VO4, and 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. After centrifugation for 30 min at 12,000 x g, the supernatants were collected.
Cell lysates were incubated with anti-FLAG monoclonal antibody-conjugated agarose (Sigma) for 4 h at 4 °C with continuous agitation. After centrifugation, the pellets were washed five times with 10 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.5, containing 150 mM NaCl and 0.1%(v/v) Triton X-100. The pellets were then suspended in SDS loading buffer, after which the proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE and analyzed with a Fluorescent Imaging Analyzer (FLA2000; Fuji Photo Film, Tokyo, Japan). Western blot analysis was performed as described above.
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pFLAG-ca.PKC
vector carrying the catalytic domain of PKC
was constructed as described (38). TE671 cells was transfected with pFLAG-ca.PKC
in the presence or absence of L-PGDS promoter-reporter construct. Luciferase reporter activities were measured as described above. | RESULTS |
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To confirm the cell type-specific expression of the L-PGDS gene, we transiently transfected TE671, MCF-7, and 1321-N1 cells with the luciferase-reporter constructs containing the -730/+75, -320/+75, and -90/+75 promoter regions of the human L-PGDS gene. When the -730/+75 or -320/+75 construct was used for the transfection, efficient reporter activity was detected only in TE671 cells but not detected in MCF-7 or 1321-N1 cells (Fig. 1B). This result is therefore consistent with that of the expression analysis by RT-PCR (Fig. 1A). No efficient reporter activities were detected in any of the cells transfected with the -90/+75 construct. Therefore, these results indicate that the region from -730 to -90 contained the cis-elements responsible for the cell type-specific regulation of human L-PGDS gene expression in TE671 cells.
Analysis of Promoter Region of Human L-PGDS GeneTo identify the cis-acting element(s) responsible for transcriptional regulation of the human L-PGDS gene, we constructed serially deleted promoter-luciferase reporter plasmids containing various lengths of the promoter region of the human L-PGDS gene. TE671 cells were transfected with each construct, and the luciferase reporter activities were then measured. When the -730/+75 construct was used for the transfection, efficient reporter activity was detected (Figs. 1B and 2A). Deletion of the region from -730 to -400 did not result in any significant change in the promoter activity. On the contrary, further deletion to -320 caused a strong increase in the promoter activity, which was
300% that of the -730/+75 construct, indicating that this region from -400 to -320 contained a critical cis-element for the transcriptional repression. Further deletion from -320 to -105 did not show any change in the reporter activity (Fig. 2A). Deletion down to -90 resulted in a strong loss of reporter activity, to
10% that of the -730/+75 construct. Further deletion to -50 with the -50/+75 construct showed the weak reporter activity that is almost identical to that of the -90/+75 construct, indicating that the region from -105 to -90 contains the cis-element responsible for the transcriptional activation (Figs. 1B and 2A). Thus, these results indicate that cis-elements critical for the transcriptional regulation of the human L-PGDS gene were located in the regions from -400 to -320 and -105 to -90.
The initial deletion analysis demonstrated that critical cis-elements were localized within the proximal promoter region from -400 to -90. Various putative transcription factor-binding elements, such as the N-box at -337, GATA element at -288, krüppel-like factor-3-binding element at -247, and AP-2 element at -98, were found by analyzing the proximal promoter region by use of MatInspector (39).
To localize further the cis-acting elements in the proximal promoter region of the human L-PGDS gene, more detail deletion and mutation analyses were carried out (Fig. 2B). When the region from -400 to -350 was deleted, the promoter activity was not altered. On the contrary, deletion of the region from -350 to -320 led to significant enhancement of the promoter activity, indicating that the cis-element responsible for transcriptional repression was present in the region from -350 to -320. This region contains the N-box consensus sequence at -337. Site-directed mutation of the N-box was done to obtain the -730/+75 N-box mu and -400/+75 N-box mu constructs. Reporter activities of these mutant constructs were increased
220% when compared with the activity of the -400/+75 construct. The induction rate was almost identical when the region from -350 to -320 was deleted (
300%). These results indicate that human L-PGDS gene expression was repressed through the N-box in TE671 cells.
The reporter activity was not changed by deletion of the region from -320 to -105 containing the GATA element and the krüppel-like factor-3-binding element. Further deletion of the promoter between -105 and -90 caused a dramatic decrease in the reporter activity, indicating that the cis-element responsible for transcriptional activation resided in the region from -105 to -90. This region contains the AP-2 element starting at -98. When the -730/+75 AP-2 mu or -400/+75 AP-2 mu construct carrying the mutation at the AP-2 element was used to transfect TE671 cells, the reporter activity was decreased to
10% as compared with that of the -400/+75 construct, indicating that the AP-2 element at -98 functions for the transcriptional activation of human L-PGDS gene expression.
Taken together, the results presented thus far indicate that transcription of the human L-PGDS gene was repressed through the N-box and activated via the AP-2 element in TE671 cells.
Binding of Transcription Factor to N-boxNext we investigated the binding of nuclear factors to the N-box by conducting EMSA and ChIP assay. A radiolabeled double-stranded oligonucleotide (Table I) was used for EMSA along with the nuclear extracts prepared from TE671 cells. A shifted band was observed when the nuclear extracts prepared from TE671 cells were added (Fig. 3A, lane 2). On the contrary, no corresponding shifted band was detected when the nuclear extracts were not added (Fig. 3A, lane 1). This shifted band disappeared when excess amounts of the unlabeled probe (10- or 50-fold) were added (Fig. 3A, lanes 3 and 4), whereas the band intensity was not altered by the addition of an excess amount of the unlabeled probe carrying a mutation in the N-box (Fig. 3A, lane 5). Thus, these results indicate that some nuclear factors bound to the N-box in vitro.
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Notch-Hes Signal Suppresses L-PGDS ExpressionWe then investigated the roles of the Notch-Hes signaling in the regulation of human L-PGDS expression. When TE671 cells were transfected with the pcDNA3-cytohN1 vector, both the mRNA and protein levels of Hes-1 were clearly increased as compared to when the empty vector (pcDNA3.1) was transfected (Fig. 4A). Reversely, transfection of TE671 cells with each pcDNA3-Hes-1 or pcDNA3-cytohN1 vector significantly decreased L-PGDS in both mRNA and protein levels (Fig. 4B). To elucidate whether Hes-1 or NICD-mediated repression of L-PGDS expression occurs through the N-box, we co-transfected TE671 cells with each pcDNA3-Hes-1 or pcDNA3-cytohN1 vector together with the -730/+75 or -730/+75 N-box mu construct. Co-transfection experiments demonstrated that the reporter activity was decreased (Fig. 4C) in an intracellular Hes-1 level-dependent manner (Fig. 4C, inset). However, when the cells were transfected with the -730/+75 N-box mu construct, the reporter activity was not altered (Fig. 4C) even if the Hes-1 was overexpressed (Fig. 4C, inset). Renilla luciferase activities from pRL-CMV vector as an internal control were not changed in any cases. These results indicate that NICD and Hes-1 involved in the Notch-Hes signaling repressed human L-PGDS gene expression through the N-box in TE671 cells.
Next, we used RNAi technology to perform a knock-down study on Hes-1 mRNA in TE671 cells. Vector-based RNAi for Hes-1 decreased the endogenous Hes-1 mRNA level in TE671 cells (Fig. 4D, upper panel). In the same cells, L-PGDS gene expression was significantly induced by the knock-down of Hes-1 mRNA (Fig. 4D, middle panel), whereas the G3PDH mRNA level was not altered (Fig. 4D, lower panel). TE671 cells were co-transfected with either pSi-Hes-1 or pSi-empty (pSi-lencer1.0) vector together with the -730/+75 construct. The reporter activity obtained with the pSi-Hes-1 vector was increased about 2-fold as compared with that obtained when the pSi-empty vector or only the -730/+75 construct was used for the transfection (Fig. 4E). On the contrary, when the -730/+75 N-box mu construct was utilized for co-transfection with either pSi-Hes-1 or pSi-empty vector, the reporter activity was enhanced to a level almost the same as that when the cells were transfected with both the -730/+75 construct and the pSi-Hes-1 vectors. These results indicate that the intracellular Hes-1 level directly affected L-PGDS gene expression through the N-box in TE671 cells.
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To prove the in vivo binding of the nuclear factor to the AP-2 element, we performed the ChIP assay. First of all, we examined the expression profile of the AP-2 subtypes,
,
, and
, in TE671 cells by RT-PCR with subtype-specific primers (35). AP-2
was dominantly expressed, and AP-2
and -
were detected in negligible amounts in TE671 cells (Fig. 5B). In the supershift assay, the DNA-protein complex was supershifted by the addition of anti-AP-2
antibody (Fig. 5C, lane 2) as compared to when the nuclear extracts prepared from the TE671 cells were used in the absence of anti-AP-2
antibody (Fig. 5C, lane 1). Furthermore, we carried out in vivo binding analysis by the ChIP assay with anti-AP-2
antibody. The expected size (112 bp) of an amplicon containing the AP-2 element at -98 was detected in the formaldehyde-mediated DNA-protein complexes immunoprecipitated with anti-AP-2
antibody (Fig. 5, D and E). On the other hand, there was no detectable signal when the antibody was not added, although the signals were detected in both cases for the input control. There was no signal when the region containing no AP-2 element was amplified. These results indicate that AP-2
binds to the AP-2 element of the L-PGDS promoter both in vitro and in vivo.
TPA Enhances L-PGDS Expression LevelTPA is known to be an activator for PKC signaling and to activate AP-2 function (43). L-PGDS expression was enhanced
2.5-fold by the treatment with TPA as compared with the expression obtained with the vehicle control (Fig. 6A). This TPA-mediated induction of L-PGDS was nullified by co-treatment with Bis, a PKC inhibitor. The reporter assay of the human L-PGDS promoter demonstrated that when TE671 cells transfected with the -730/ +75 construct were treated with TPA, the reporter activity was enhanced
2.5-fold as compared with that of the vehicle control (Fig. 6B). This induction was not observed when Bis was added prior to the TPA treatment, being consistent with the results of expression analysis (Fig. 6A). Reporter activity of the -105/+75 construct was enhanced
1.4-fold as compared with that of the vehicle control. Further deletion of the region containing the AP-2 element (the -90/+75 construct) showed a drastic decrease in the promoter activity as well as in the TPA responsiveness. These results suggest that the AP-2 element at -98 is the TPA-responsive element. Most interestingly, the induction level by TPA for the -730/+75 construct (
2.5-fold) was higher than that for the -105/+75 construct (
1.4-fold), indicating that some other TPA-responsive element(s) exist within the region from -730 to -105 of the human L-PGDS promoter.
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antibody when TE671 cells were treated with TPA. PKC was translocated from the cytosol to the membrane fraction in a time-dependent manner by the treatment of TE671 cells with TPA (Fig. 6D).
Induction of L-PGDS by PKC ActivationWe investigated the roles of the PKC activation in the transcriptional regulation of the L-PGDS gene in TE671 cells. When PKC
was expressed heterologously in TE671 cells, the L-PGDS level was significantly increased (Fig. 7A). When TE671 cells were transfected with the -730/+75 construct with FLAG-ca.PKC
vector, the reporter activity was enhanced
2-fold as compared to when both the -730/+75 construct and the FLAG-empty (pFLAG-CMV2) vector were co-transfected (Fig. 7B).
EMSA demonstrated that binding of Hes-1 to the N-box was decreased by the treatment with TPA (Fig. 7C). However, by the treatment with Bis prior to the TPA treatment, the binding ability of Hes-1 to the N-box was restored. Moreover, the expression of PKC
decreased the binding ability of Hes-1 to the N-box (Fig. 7C). The results of the ChIP assay with anti-Hes-1 antibody showed that there is no amplification signal when TPA-treated or PKC
-expressed TE671 cells were used, although there was an amplicon in the case of both nontreated and TPA- and Bis-co-treated TE671 cells (Fig. 7D).
Furthermore, TPA treatment enhanced the nuclear protein binding to the AP-2 element as compared with the case when TE671 cells were not treated with TPA (Fig. 7E). This enhancement was decreased by co-treatment with TPA and Bis. On the contrary, PKC
induced binding of AP-2
to the AP-2 element. In vivo binding analysis by the ChIP assay demonstrated that the binding ability of AP-2
to the AP-2 element in vivo was increased by the treatment with TPA and the expression of PKC
, but not by the co-treatment with TPA and Bis (Fig. 7F). These results, taken together, indicate that TPA-activated PKC signal inhibited the binding of Hes-1 to the N-box and enhanced the binding of AP-2
to the AP-2 element. Therefore, human L-PGDS gene expression was enhanced by the PKC signal through both de-repression of the Notch-Hes signal-mediated repression and activation of the AP-2
function in TE671 cells.
| DISCUSSION |
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in the primary cultured leptomeningeal cells (33). Another group (31) analyzed the human L-PGDS gene promoter and identified a thyroid hormone-responsive element in it. In that study, deletion of the region from -595 to -325 was shown to enhance the promoter activity in TE671 cells, suggesting that this region contains negative cis-element(s) that inhibit L-PGDS gene expression. However, the cis-element was not identified. In this study, we found a novel transcriptional regulatory mechanism composed of the Notch-Hes signaling and AP-2 activation of the L-PGDS gene in TE671 cells. Furthermore, we also showed that PKC-mediated de-repression of the Notch-Hes signaling and AP-2 activation are responsible for the high level expression of the human L-PGDS gene found in these cells. Fig. 8 summarizes the proposed transcription regulatory mechanism of the human L-PGDS gene in TE671 cells.
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-glucosidase gene was shown to be regulated by the Notch-Hes signaling in HepG2 cells (49). Hes-1 regulates differentiation of pre-adipocytes (50), and acts as a tumor suppressor in epithelial cells and as a mediator of the proliferative effect of 17
-estradiol on breast cancer cells (51). Thus, the Notch-Hes signal regulates the transcription of not only neuronal genes but also that of non-neuronal genes in a variety of cells.
We identified the AP-2 element in the human L-PGDS gene promoter at a position of -98, CCCCATCCC, whose consensus sequence is (G/C)CCNNNGGC (43). The AP-2 element is a cis-element that binds AP-2 proteins, which are involved in the regulation of numerous cellular events, are responsible for transmitting the signal from cyclic AMP or phorbol ester (43), and are inducible nuclear factors controlling gene expression in cellular differentiation (52). Deletion and mutation of the AP-2 element at -98 in the L-PGDS gene promoter result in a drastic decrease in the reporter activity (Figs. 1 and 2). Results from the EMSA and ChIP assay demonstrated that AP-2
bound to the AP-2 element both in vitro and in TE671 cells (Fig. 5). A previous study indicated that putative AP-2 elements were located at -294, -183, -98, and -60 (31). However, our present study demonstrated that only the AP-2 element at -98 is functional in TE671 cells. These results are consistent with the previous results from the analysis of the L-PGDS gene in rat leptomeningeal cells (33). In the brain, L-PGDS gene expression is abundant in most animal species, including human and rat. Therefore, the transcriptional regulatory mechanism of the L-PGDS gene in the brain is likely conserved among different animal species.
Our present study provides a novel transcriptional regulatory mechanism for high level expression of the human L-PGDS gene, one mediated by Notch-Hes signaling and AP-2 activation. We also showed that this expression was enhanced by TPA treatment and that TPA-mediated enhancement occurred through activation of the PKC signal, because the PKC inhibitor Bis abolished TPA-mediated transcriptional activation of the human L-PGDS gene (Fig. 6). Moreover, PKC
could activate L-PGDS gene expression through inhibition of DNA binding of Hes-1 to the N-box and enhancement of binding ability of AP-2
to the AP-2 element (Fig. 7). In the pathway of prostaglandin biosynthesis, only cyclooxygenase-2, an enzyme acting upstream of L-PGDS, is transcriptionally up-regulated 2-3-fold by PKC in rat intestinal epithelial RIE-1 cells (53). The cyclooxygenase-2 gene promoter contains the E-box, but mutation of the E-box decreased or did not affect the promoter activity in various cells (54-56). Therefore, our proposed novel mechanism for the regulation of the human L-PGDS promoter by the Notch-Hes signaling is a unique one in prostaglandin biosynthesis.
We propose the following transcriptional regulation of the L-PGDS gene by PKC (Fig. 8). In untreated cells, L-PGDS gene expression is repressed through the N-box by the Notch-Hes signal and activated via the AP-2 element by AP-2
. Thus, L-PGDS is only moderately expressed. Once the PKC signal is activated, the repression by the Notch-Hes signal is abrogated by phosphorylation of Hes-1 DNA-binding domain, which blocks its binding to the N-box. Moreover, PKC can activate AP-2 function by enhancing the ability of AP-2
to bind to the AP-2 element. Therefore, PKC functions as an activator for high level expression of the L-PGDS gene in brain-derived TE671 cells.
Clinical studies showed the importance of many lipocalin gene family proteins including the L-PGDS (12). Actually, the L-PGDS level is enhanced in serum or cerebrospinal fluid of the patients with hypertension (57), arteriosclerosis (16), or subarachnoid hemorrhage (58). Thus, L-PGDS is thought to be useful as the diagnostic marker for those diseases (3, 4). However, the mechanisms responsible for enhancement of the L-PGDS level associated with such diseases have never been identified. High pressure significantly increases the phosphorylation of PKC in arteries (59), and the plasma L-PGDS level is increased in the coronary artery with arteriosclerosis (16). Low density lipoprotein related to the progression of arteriosclerosis can activate PKC in vascular smooth muscle cells (60), in which the L-PGDS expresses (16, 61) and functions in the Notch signal (62). Moreover, PKC is activated in a variety of animal models of vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (63). L-PGDS is secreted into the human cerebrospinal fluid from leptomeningeal cells (64), and in these cells, L-PGDS gene expression was repressed by Hes-1, as we showed in a previous study (33). Therefore, the present findings together with these earlier results indicate that the increase in the L-PGDS level in patients with the above diseases might, at least in part, occur through PKC-mediated de-repression of the Notch-Hes signal and enhancement of AP-2
activation.
| FOOTNOTES |
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To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Molecular Behavioral Biology, Osaka Bioscience Institute, 6-2-4 Furuedai, Suita, Osaka 565-0874, Japan. Tel.: 81-6-6872-4851; Fax: 81-6-6872-2841; E-mail: uradey{at}obi.or.jp.
1 The abbreviations used are: PG, prostaglandin; L-PGDS, lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase; TPA, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate; PKC, protein kinase C; NICD, Notch intracellular domain; RNAi, RNA interference; EMSA, electrophoretic mobility shift assay; ChIP, chromatin immunoprecipitation; Bis, bisindolylmaleimide I; G3PDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; WT; wild-type; mu, mutant type; RT, reverse transcription. ![]()
2 Y. Urade, unpublished results. ![]()
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