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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 280, Issue 50, 41222-41228, December 16, 2005
Gene-specific Changes in Promoter Occupancy by Thyroid Hormone Receptor during Frog MetamorphosisIMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENTAL GENE REGULATION*From the Section on Molecular Morphogenesis, Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Development, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Received for publication, August 31, 2005 , and in revised form, October 3, 2005.
In all vertebrates, thyroid hormones (TH) affect postembryonic development. The role of the TH receptor (TR) in mediating the TH signal is complex as evidenced by divergent phenotypes in mice lacking TH compared with TR knock-out mice. We have proposed a dual function model for TR during development based on studies of frog metamorphosis. Here we examined an important assumption of this dual function model by using the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, namely constitutive TR binding to promoters in vivo. We examined two target genes with TH-response elements (TRE) in their promoters, TR itself and TH/bZIP (TH-responsive basic leucine zipper transcription factor). By using an antibody that recognizes both TR and TR , we found that TR binding to the TR promoter is indeed constitutive. Most surprisingly, TR binding to the TH/bZIP promoter increases dramatically after TH treatment of premetamorphic tadpoles and during metamorphosis. By using an antibody specific to TR ,TR binding increases at both promoters in response to TH. In vitro biochemical studies showed that TRs bind TH/bZIP TRE with 4-fold lower affinity than to TR TRE. Our data show that only high affinity TR TRE is occupied by limiting levels of TR during premetamorphosis and that lower affinity TH/bZIP TRE becomes occupied only when overall the TR expression is higher during metamorphosis. These data provide the first in vivo evidence to suggest that one mechanism for tissue- and gene-specific regulation of TR target gene expression is through tissue and developmental stage-dependent regulation of TR levels, likely a critical mechanism for coordinating development in different organs during postembryonic development.
All vertebrates have two types of thyroid hormone receptors (TRs),2 TR and TR , that regulate gene expression by binding thyroid hormone (TH)-response elements (TREs) of TH-inducible genes and recruiting cofactors (1). In the absence of TH, TRs recruit corepressors, including N-CoR, SMRT, TBL1/TBLR1, HDAC3, and GPS2 (27). Corepressor binding is associated with deacetylated histones in the TRE region and gene repression. In the presence of TH, coactivators, such as SRC, p300, TRAP, and Mediator complexes, replace corepressors (811). Coactivator binding promotes transcription by acetylating histones and interacting with the basal transcriptional machinery.
The above knowledge based on in vitro studies complements extensive studies on the developmental role of TRs in frogs and TR knock-out mice. TR is important for postembryonic development of many organs (12). The destruction of larval organs and the formation of adult organs during frog metamorphosis is totally dependent upon TH (13, 14). Transgenic overexpression of mutant TRs and cofactors showed gene activation by TR is necessary and sufficient to initiate TH-dependent developmental transitions in frogs (15, 16). In knock-out mice lacking TRs, developmental defects are evident in brain, heart, and intestine, among other organs (17). Similar observations on the importance of TR in development have been noted in all vertebrates studied, including humans (18), fish (19), and chickens (20). Most interestingly, the phenotype of TR knock-out mice is dramatically different from mice lacking TH (17). Therefore, the study of the molecular mechanisms of TR in gene regulation in vivo is important for understanding the developmental actions of TR.
To bridge the gap between our knowledge of the developmental roles in vivo and the molecular mechanisms of TR action in vitro, we developed the dual function model for the role of TR during development (21, 22). Frog metamorphosis is a valuable model for studying hormonal control of postembryonic development because premetamorphic tadpoles naturally lack TH, and the large size of tadpoles allows direct study of the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation during development in vivo. In frogs, TR A critical parameter for the dual function model is TR binding to TH-inducible genes in vivo. Even though ChIP assays suggest that TRs bind during both premetamorphosis and climax when TH is absent and present, respectively, developmental changes in TR expression hinted that levels of TR binding to TH-response promoters might vary dramatically during development. Here we used quantitative PCR (qPCR) to quantify TR binding to two different promoters during development, and we identified a contributing factor to differences we observed for TR binding between the promoters. These results expand our understanding of tissue- and gene-dependent roles of TR during development.
Animals and AntibodiesXenopus laevis tadpoles and adults were reared in the laboratory or purchased from Xenopus I, Inc. Tadpoles at the indicated developmental stages (28) or premetamorphic tadpoles (stages 5254) treated with 10 nM triiodothyronine (T3) for 13 days at 18 °C with daily water changes without feeding were used for chromatin immunoprecipitation.
We used the following two rabbit antisera against TR: 1) anti-TR(PB) made by injecting full-length TR Chromatin ImmunoprecipitationChromatin was isolated from tadpole tails or intestines flushed with 0.6x phosphate-buffered saline. Organs were placed in 1 ml of nuclei extraction buffer (0.5% Triton X-100, 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 3 mM CaCl2, 0.25 M sucrose, with protease inhibitor tablet (Roche Applied Science, Complete, Mini, EDTA-free), 0.1 mM dithiothreitol, and 0.2 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride) in Dounce homogenizers on ice and crushed with 1015 strokes using pestle A (Kontes). The homogenate was fixed in 1% formaldehyde with rotation at room temperature for 20 min, and the fixation was stopped with 0.1 M Tris-HCl, pH 9.5. The homogenate was centrifuged at 2000 x g at 4 °C for 2 min, and the pellet was resuspended in 1 ml of nuclei extraction buffer and re-homogenized in Dounce with 510 strokes using pestle A for tails and pestle B for intestines. Then the homogenate was filtered through a Falcon 100-µm cell strainer and centrifuged at 2000 x g at 4 °C for 2 min. The pellet was resuspended in 200300 µl of SDS lysis buffer (Upstate Cell Signaling Solutions) on ice, sonicated to an average length of 800 bp, and centrifuged at 16,000 x g for 10 min at 4 °C. The chromatin in the supernatant was quantitated and frozen in aliquots at -80 °C.
For immunoprecipitation as reported previously (25), the DNA concentration of the chromatin was adjusted to 100 ng/µl using the SDS lysis buffer, and then diluted to 10 ng/µl with ChIP dilution buffer (Upstate Cell Signaling Solutions). After preclearing with salmon sperm DNA/protein A-agarose (Upstate Cell Signaling Solutions), input samples were taken, and 500 µl of each chromatin sample was added to tubes with anti-TR(PB), anti-TR
Gel Mobility Shift AssayReceptor mRNA was made for TR
Probes for the gel mobility shift assay spanned the single TRE in TR
Gel mobility shift assays were done based on procedures described previously (29, 31). Oocyte extracts (12 µl) from oocytes injected with RXR
In Vitro Transcription and Western BlottingThe pSP64(poly(A)) vector (Promega) containing TR
TR Binding to TREs in Vivo Is Gene-specific and TH-dependentBecause TR function is critical for metamorphosis and vertebrate development in general, molecular mechanisms for regulating specific TH-response genes in vivo are of considerable interest. Based on in vitro studies, TR binds TREs constitutively, i.e. TRs bind TREs in the absence and presence of ligand (1). Most interestingly, in our studies on TR binding to TREs in vivo during metamorphosis by ChIP, we often observed variable amounts of TR binding to TRE of the TH-inducible TH/bZIP promoter, depending on the presence of ligand (15, 25). To investigate the TH-dependent phenomenon, we treated premetamorphic tadpoles with or without 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3), a potent form of TH, and analyzed TR binding to two TH-inducible promoters, TR and TH/bZIP, in the intestine and tail with anti-TR(PB) antibody (Fig. 1). TR binding remained constant at the TR promoter in the presence or absence of T3 in both the intestine and tail (Fig. 1, top panels), and this constitutive binding was found at the TH/bZIP promoter in the intestine as well (Fig. 1, lower panels). However, an increase in TR binding was detected in the presence of T3 in the tail (Fig. 1, lower panels).
To quantitate any potential differences in TR binding, we carried out qPCR. We increased the scope of the analysis by examining multiple time points of T3-induced metamorphosis and at different stages during natural metamorphosis. For these qPCR experiments, we included a control antibody, anti-ID14, and a primer/probe set for a control DNA region, the TR exon 5. The control DNA region, exon 5 of the TR gene, does not contain a TRE and is at least 20 kb away from the promoter where the TRE is located (33). This controls for sufficient sonication of the chromatin in the assay. Thus, the very low amounts of precipitated exon 5 DNA, expressed as % input, for both antibodies, anti-TR(PB) and anti-ID14, indicate that the chromatin was sonicated sufficiently to avoid chromatin fragments containing both the TRE and exon 5. We suggest that this level of % input at exon 5 represents the background for the assay. We also found background levels of % input at the TH/bZIP and TR TREs with the anti-ID14 antibody, indicating the washing steps after immunoprecipitation effectively removed nonspecific interactions.
Consistent with the above analysis, TR binding to the TH/bZIP TRE was dramatically and statistically significantly increased in the presence T3 in both the tail (F3,10 = 7.9, p < 0.005 (This F-statistic has 3 and 10 degrees of freedom reflecting treatment levels and sample sizes.)) and intestine (F3,10 = 9.1, p < 0.003), where the maximal levels of increase after T3 treatment were about 10- and 7-fold, respectively (Fig. 2, A and B). Scheffe's post hoc tests revealed no differences in the immunoprecipitated TRE region as % input among T3-treated samples. These same ChIP DNA samples were used to quantitate TR
The results of TR binding during natural metamorphosis are by and large similar to TR binding results from T3-induced metamorphosis (Fig. 2, C and D). We examined stages from beginning (stage 54) to climax of metamorphosis (stage 62), when maximal levels of T3 are detectable (34) and two stages in-between (stage 58 and 60). Stage 58 is forelimb emergence and onset of intestinal remodeling; stage 60 is when the highest number of apoptotic epithelial cells is observed in the remodeling intestine (28, 35). At the TH/bZIP TRE, there was a gradual and significant increase in TR binding across development (F3,22 = 10.3, p < 0.0002 for tail and F3,14 = 112.5, p < 0.003 for intestine), up to 8-fold in the tail and 5-fold in the intestine (Fig. 2, C and D) (TABLE ONE). These increases became significant by stage 60 in both organs based on Scheffe's post hoc tests. At the TR TRE, no significant differences in TR binding across development were observed in the tail (F3,22 = 1.5, p < 0.23) or the intestine (post hoc tests showed no pairwise significant difference, although TR binding differences were significant overall, F3,14 = 4.1, p < 0.028).
TR
For the gel mobility shift assays, we isolated frog oocyte cytoplasm containing TR
To address the simple possibility that there is some difference in the ability to bind the TH/bZIP TRE versus TR
The other potential explanations for the low binding in TH/bZIP in the absence of T3 may relate to binding affinity differences between the two TR isoforms or between TREs. First, we performed a TRE competition experiment where TR binding to radiolabeled TREs was competed with unlabeled TREs (Fig. 4). By using radiolabeled TR
Even though both TRs bind the TR TRE more strongly than the TH/bZIP TRE, TR may not bind the TREs as strongly compared with TR . In premetamorphic tadpoles, TR is predominant, and TR expression is very low, whereas TR expression is up-regulated in the presence of T3 (37). Thus, the low TR binding to TH/bZIP may be due to a potentially low TR binding affinity for TH/bZIP TRE and low TR protein levels in premetamorphosis. To examine potential differences in binding to the two TREs between the TR isoforms, we performed a Scatchard plot analysis (Fig. 5). We used either radiolabeled TR or TH/bZIP TREs in decreasing amounts in the binding reactions with a constant amount of TR or TR in a gel mobility shift assay (Fig. 5, A and B). These radiographs were used to determine the total amount of bound and free TRE from each binding reaction for the Scatchard plot analysis (Fig. 5C). The results corroborate data from the above competition experiments showing that for each TR the binding affinity is higher for TR TRE than TH/bZIP TRE with the Kd (dissociation constant) for TR TRE 4-fold lower than the Kd for the TH/bZIP TRE. In addition, both TRs had identical Kd values for either TR TRE or TH/bZIP TRE, indicating identical affinity for each TRE by TR and TR .
Up-regulation of TR Expression by TH Leads to High Occupancy of TR at TREsThe increase in TR binding at TREs after T3 treatment suggests that TR levels are not sufficient to saturate TREs, at least the weaker TH/bZIP TRE in premetamorphic tadpoles. As T3 treatment preferentially induces TR expression (37), we would predict that TR binding at TREs would increase more dramatically than total TR binding to the TREs. To examine this hypothesis, we performed ChIP assay using a TR -specific antibody on tail and intestine during development. First, we generated a TR -specific antibody by immunizing a rabbit with two TR -specific peptides (see "Materials and Methods"). Western blot analysis of in vitro translated TR and TR with this polyclonal antibody, anti-TR , showed that it is specific for TR (Fig. 6A), even though similar amounts of TR and TR were present as shown by the anti-TR(PB) antibody used above (Fig. 6B). When the ChIP assay was carried out with anti-TR antibody comparing control and T3-treated tadpoles, TR binding increased by about 10-fold at the TH/bZIP TRE and 3-fold at the TR TRE in both tails (F3,10 = 16.8, p < 0.0003 for TH/bZIP and F3,10 = 5.7, p < 0.015 for TR ) and intestines (F3,8 = 7.8, p < 0.009 for TH/bZIP and F3,8 = 2.6, p < 0.12 for TR ) (Fig. 7, A and B). These increases were similar or slightly higher than those observed with the anti-TR(PB) antibody. During natural metamorphosis, TR binding to the TH/bZIP TRE gradually increased to 20- and 10-fold in the tail and intestines, respectively, from premetamorphosis to metamorphic climax (Fig. 7, C and D). At the TR TRE during natural metamorphosis, the increases were 5- and 2-fold in the tail and intestines, respectively. The level of TR binding was at background control antibody levels for the TH/bZIP TRE for both organs in premetamorphic tadpoles and was at or marginally above background levels for the TR TRE and increased much more during metamorphosis than that observed for anti-TR(PB) antibody (TABLE ONE). These results are consistent with the relative changes in TR and TR expression during natural and T3-induced metamorphosis (see "Discussion").
Because in vitro studies showed constitutive binding of TR to TREs independent of hormone (1), it was surprising to find increased recruitment of the TR to the TH/bZIP promoter after addition of exogenous TH in vivo given the significant levels of TR expression in premetamorphic tadpoles (37, 38). At the same time, we found limited change in TR binding to the TR TRE in response to TH. The accuracy of these results was initially in doubt because it was based on conventional PCR and autoradiography, techniques of dubious quantitative value. Therefore, we carried out qPCR and confirmed promoter-specific, differential recruitment of TR to the two TREs. Next, we used gel mobility shift assays to investigate the underlying cause for the differences in TR binding between the two promoters in vivo. Our data showed that TR and TR bind to the TREs with identical affinity and that the TH/bZIP TRE has a 4-fold weaker affinity than TR TRE for either receptor, a result consistent with a sequence comparison of the TR and TH/bZIP TREs with a consensus TRE (Fig. 8) (39). The TR TRE has a single nucleotide different from the consensus, whereas the two TH/bZIP TREs have 3 or 4 nucleotide differences each. Most interestingly, even though there are two TREs in the TH/bZIP promoter, only a single TR/RXR heterodimer is bound under gel mobility shift conditions (our data and see Ref. 40).
The combination of results from the ChIP and gel mobility shift assays suggests the following hypothesis explaining the differences in TR binding in vivo for the two promoters. TH/bZIP TRE occupancy by TRs is low in premetamorphosis because of limiting protein levels of TR, which allows the binding to the 4-fold higher affinity TR
We examined a corollary of the above hypothesis that the TR The results of this study have strong implications for the role of TR in development. The dual function model for the role of TR states that TH-responsive promoters are repressed during premetamorphosis and activated during metamorphosis because of the critical role of ligand for TR function (21). No exceptions to this model have been identified so far regarding the up-regulation of direct response genes by T3 during metamorphosis (22). However, our ChIP results show that not all T3-response genes are bound by TR during premetamorphosis, indicating that TR does not regulate these genes before metamorphosis. Rather, the lack or low levels of expression of some TH-response genes before metamorphosis, such as TH/bZIP (41, 43), must be through TR-independent mechanisms via other transcription factors or formation of a repressive chromatin structure. Thus, our data indicate that the application of the dual function model during premetamorphosis cannot be universally applied to all T3-response genes and needs to incorporate TRE affinity for TRs and changing levels of TR during development. During premetamorphosis, the dual function model applies only to those genes with high affinity TREs. As receptor levels increase continuously during development (37), more and more promoters containing weaker TREs come under positive regulatory control of TR and TH.
Another hypothesized mechanism for TR function in development is its autoinduction. Previous studies in frogs revealed that TH regulates its own receptors, and this autoregulation is thought to be important for the developmental role of TH because it is correlated with metamorphic progression. However, because of the lack of knock-out technology in frogs, this hypothesis has not been directly tested. Our results here and the kinetics of TR
Amphibian metamorphosis involves complex coordination of different transformations at different developmental stages in various organs. Different TH-response genes may play roles at different stages of metamorphosis in different organs/tissues or even within a single tissue, and their expression levels would need to be controlled accordingly. For example, limb development occurs much earlier, at the onset of metamorphosis, than tail resorption, which is the last process to complete. One mechanism to control such developmental timing is to have tissue-specific TR expression levels for controlling tissue sensitivity, i.e. the ability to activate T3-response genes (44). Specifically, the tissues first to transform during metamorphosis, such as the hind limb, would have sufficiently high levels of TR to respond to T3 early during metamorphosis compared with those transforming later, such as the tail, which is known to be the case (44). In addition, different direct T3-response genes may function at different time points during transformation of a given tissue. For example, TR
* This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NICHD, National Institutes of Health. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Bldg. 18 T, Rm. 106, Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Development, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892. Tel.: 301-402-1004; Fax: 301-402-1323; E-mail: Shi{at}helix.nih.gov.
2 The abbreviations used are: TR, TH receptor; TH, thyroid hormone; TRE, TH response elements; ChIP, chromatin immunoprecipitation; T3, triiodothyronine; qPCR, quantitative PCR; bZIP, basic leucine zipper transcription factor; RXR, retinoid X receptor.
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