help button home button Endocrine Society Endocrinology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS

This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Copyright Permission
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rastegar, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lemaigre, F. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rastegar, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lemaigre, F. P.
Endocrinology Vol. 141, No. 5 1686-1692
Copyright © 2000 by The Endocrine Society


ARTICLES

CCAAT/Enhancer-Binding Protein-{alpha} Is a Component of the Growth Hormone-Regulated Network of Liver Transcription Factors1

Mojgan Rastegar, Guy G. Rousseau and Frédéric P. Lemaigre2

Hormone and Metabolic Research Unit, Université Catholique de Louvain and Christian de Duve Institute of Cellular Pathology, Brussels 1200, Belgium

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Frédéric P. Lemaigre, avenue Hippocrate 75, Box 7529, 1200 Brussels, Belgium. E-mail: lemaigre{at}horm.ucl.ac.be


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
GH regulates gene expression by modulating the concentration or activity of transcription factors. To identify transcription factors that mediate the effects of GH in liver we analyzed the promoter of the gene coding for hepatocyte nuclear factor-6 (HNF-6), whose expression in liver is stimulated by GH. In protein-DNA interaction studies and in transfection experiments, we found that the liver-enriched transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-{alpha} (C/EBP{alpha}) binds to the hnf6 gene and inhibits its expression. This inhibitory effect involved an N-terminal subdomain of C/EBP{alpha} and two sites in the hnf6 gene promoter. Using liver nuclear extracts from GH-treated hypophysectomized rats, we found that GH induces a rapid, transient decrease in the amount of C/EBP{alpha} protein. This GH-induced change is concomitant with the transient stimulatory effect of GH on the hnf6 gene. Stimulation of the hnf6 gene by GH therefore involves lifting of the repression exerted by C/EBP{alpha} in addition to the known GH-induced stimulatory effects of STAT5 (signal transducer and activator of transcription-5) and HNF-4 on that gene. Our data provide further evidence that GH controls a network of liver transcription factors and show that C/EBP{alpha} participates in this process.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
GH REGULATES a broad range of physiological processes, which include development, somatic growth, and metabolism (1). In liver, GH controls the expression of many genes, e.g. those coding for insulin-like growth factor I, for serine protease inhibitors, for enzymes involved in steroid and drug metabolism, and for the GH receptor itself (2, 3, 4, 5, 6). For some of these genes, the effect of GH is indirect, as they are induced by a transcription factor whose expression has been first stimulated by GH. For instance, GH stimulates in liver the expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor-6 (HNF-6), which, in turn, increases transcription of the CYP2C12 gene (7). HNF-6, which is the founding member of the ONECUT class of cut-homeoproteins (8, 9, 10), also binds to and activates the promoter of the genes coding for the forkhead transcription factor HNF-3ß and for the zinc finger transcription factor HNF-4 (11). Consistent with this, GH treatment of hypophysectomized rats leads to increased liver expression not only of HNF-6, but also of HNF-3ß and HNF-4. HNF-4, in turn, participates, via a posttranslational mechanism, in the GH-induced stimulation of hnf6 gene expression (12). Taken together, these data indicate that at least some of the effects of GH on liver gene transcription are exerted via the control of a network of hepatic transcription factors.

HNF-6, HNF-3ß, and HNF-4 belong to a network in which CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-{alpha} (C/EBP{alpha}), the prototype of a fourth family of liver-enriched transcription factors called bZIP (13, 14), also participates. The aim of this work was to investigate the possibility that C/EBP{alpha} could mediate the effects of GH on gene transcription. As shown here, we found that the hnf6 gene promoter binds C/EBP{alpha}. We therefore investigated whether the activity of C/EBP{alpha} was GH sensitive and, if so, whether C/EBP{alpha} could, by controlling the hnf6 gene, participate in the hormonal modulation of the hepatic network of transcription factors. Our data demonstrate that GH treatment of hypophysectomized rats leads to a rapid decrease in the amount of liver C/EBP{alpha} protein at a time when the liver HNF-6 messenger RNA (mRNA) concentration is known to increase in response to GH. This is followed by an increase in the amount of C/EBP{alpha} mRNA and protein, which is concomitant with the reported decrease in HNF-6 mRNA. Consistent with this, we found that C/EBP{alpha} represses the activity of the hnf6 gene promoter. The data presented show that both C/EBP{alpha} mRNA and protein levels are controlled by GH. They also add a new loop to the regulation of the hepatic network of transcription factors.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Animals
Four-week-old male Wistar rats obtained 7 days after hypophysectomy (IFFA-Credo, Lyon, France) were maintained under standardized conditions of light and temperature, with free access to rat chow and to water containing 0.9% (wt/vol) NaCl. Hypophysectomized rats were pretreated for 7 days with a daily sc injection of L-T4 (Aldrich, Milwaukee, WI; 1 µg/100 g BW) and cortisol hemisuccinate (Upjohn, Kalamazoo, MI; 50 µg/100 g BW). On day 8, rats were killed before (0 h) or at the time indicated after a single sc injection of purified rat GH (NIDDK rat pituitary hormone distribution program; 100 µg/100 g BW). These experiments were conducted in accordance with the highest standards of humane animal care.

Cell cultures and transfections
COS-7 cells (6 x 105 cells/6-cm plates) cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS were transfected for 6 h in DMEM without FCS using N-[1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl]-N,N,N-triethyl-ammonium methyl-sulfate (DOTAP, Roche Molecular Biochemicals, Indianapolis, IN) and 10 µg C/EBP{alpha} expression vector. Forty-eight hours after transfection, the cells were washed with PBS and harvested in 1 ml 40 mM Tris-Cl (pH 7.5), 1 mM EDTA, and 150 mM NaCl. The cells were pelleted and resuspended in 50 mM Tris-Cl (pH 7.9), 500 mM KCl, 0.5 mM EDTA, 2.5 µg/ml leupeptin, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 0.1% (vol/vol) Nonidet P-40, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride, and 20% (vol/vol) glycerol. After three freeze-thaw cycles, the lysates were centrifuged, and supernatants were collected for electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) or deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) footprinting. Rat hepatoma FTO-2B cells were grown in DMEM/Ham’s F-12 medium supplemented with 10% FCS. Cells (1 x 105 cells/well on 24-well plates) were transfected in medium without FCS using Lipofectamine Plus (Life Technologies, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD), 400 ng of the indicated reporter constructs, the amount of the expression vectors indicated, and 30 ng pRL-138 as internal control. After 6 h, the cells were washed with PBS and further incubated for 45 h in DMEM/Ham’s F-12 medium supplemented with 10% FCS before measuring the luciferase activities with the Dual-Luciferase kit (Promega Corp., Madison, WI) and a Promega Corp. TD20/20 luminometer. Luciferase activities were expressed as the ratio of reporter activity (firefly luciferase) to internal control activity (Renilla luciferase).

DNase I footprinting and EMSA
For DNase I footprinting on the HCI promoter region, a BamHI-ClaI (-44 to +161) fragment of the rat hnf6 gene promoter was labeled on the sense strand at the ClaI site with [{alpha}-32P]deoxy-GTP. For DNase I footprinting on the HCII region, a SacI-BamHI (-323 to -44) fragment of the rat hnf6 gene promoter was labeled on the sense strand at the BamHI site with [{alpha}-32P]dGTP. The incubations, which contained 15 µg rat liver nuclear protein or 15 µl COS-7 cell extracts and the probe, were carried out as previously described (15) and were followed by analysis on 6% polyacrylamide-8 M urea sequencing gels. For EMSA, nuclear extracts from rat liver (5 µg protein) or from COS-7 cells (5 µl cell extract) were incubated on ice for 20 min in a final volume of 20 µl containing 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.6), 1 mM dithiothreitol, 1 mM MgCl2, 0.5 mM EGTA, 50 mM KCl, 10% (vol/vol) glycerol, 4 µg poly(dI-dC), and the 32P-labeled probe (30,000 cpm). The samples were loaded on a 6.5% acrylamide gel (29:1, acrylamide/bisacrylamide ratio) in 0.25 x Tris-borate-EDTA buffer and electrophoresed at 200 V. The following double stranded oligonucleotides were used: C/EBP, 5'-GATCAATTCAATTGGGCAATCAGGAATT-3' (16); HCI, 5'-CACGGATCCTTTTTGGAAATTAATATT-3' (-48 to -22 of the rat hnf6 gene promoter); HCII, 5'-ACAGTCTGCAACAGTAACCGAGCCATGGCTCGA-3' (-224 to -192 of the rat hnf6 gene promoter); and Sp1, 5'-ATTCGATCGGGGCGGGGCGAGC-3' (Promega Corp.). The anti-C/EBP{alpha} antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Santa Cruz, CA; sc-61-G, provided by A. Bailly) was added to the incubations on ice 20 min before addition of the labeled probe. Incubation was then allowed to proceed for 20 min on ice before electrophoresis.

Expression vectors and reporter constructs
pcDNA-C/EBP{alpha} and pcDNA-CHOP10 (both provided by D. Ron) contain the C/EBP{alpha} and CHOP-10 complementary DNA (cDNA) cloned into the pcDNA-I expression vector. pCMV-C/EBPß was constructed by inserting a 1.4-kb cDNA fragment (provided by V. Poli) into the EcoRI site of pCMV-NH. Expression vectors for C/EBP{alpha} mutants were gifts of E. Ziff. The reporter construct pNF/0.75 luc, which contains 752 bp of the rat hnf6 gene promoter upstream of the firefly luciferase reporter gene, has been described previously (17). pRL138, used as an internal control, contains the rat 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase gene liver promoter (-138 to +86) cloned in pRLnull (Promega Corp.). To prepare the pNF/0.75 (HCI mut) luc construct, two PCR reactions were carried out (the mutated nucleotides are underlined). The first PCR was performed with the following primers: TAC-M, 5'-CCCAACAGCACGGATCCTTTTAGGCCTTTAATATTAAAAAAG-3' (-56 to -15 of the rat hnf6 gene promoter, sense strand); and GL primer 2, 5'-CTTTATGTTTTTGGCGTCTTCC-3' (standard primer of pGL3 basic vector of Promega Corp.). In the second PCR the amplified fragment from the first PCR was used as a primer with 3'SAC, 5'-CTACCGAATCTCAGCCACAG-3' (-240 to -221 of the rat hnf6 gene promoter, sense strand). The product of this PCR was digested with XhoI and cloned in pNF/0.75 luc opened with XhoI. pNF/0.75 (HCII mut) luc was made by PCR amplification with two sets of primers: GAHC-s, 5'-AAAAGTACTGTCCTCCGGG-CTCGAGCTGGCGGGCGGCAC-3' (the 3'-end corresponds to -176 of the rat hnf6 gene promoter, sense strand); and GL primer 2, as well as GAHC-as, 5'-AAAAGTACTCCGGCAGACTGTGGCTGAGATTGC-3' (the 3'-end corresponds to -236 of the rat hnf6 gene promoter, antisense strand); and PH6IIs, 5'-CCGCTGCCCACCCTCACGCCC-3' (-273 to -253 of the rat hnf6 gene promoter, antisense strand). The first fragment was digested with HindIII and ScaI, and the second fragment was digested with SacI and ScaI. The digested fragments were gel-purified and ligated with pNF/0.75 luc opened at the HindIII and SacI sites. In this way the HCII site was replaced with a GAL4-binding site. For preparation of pNF/0.75 (HCI+HCII mut) luc, a BamHI-HindIII fragment of pNF/0.75 (HCI mut) luc and a BamHI-SacI fragment of pNF/0.75 (HCII mut) luc were ligated with pNF/0.75 luc opened at the HindIII and SacI sites.

Immunoblotting
Liver nuclear extracts (20 µg protein) from hypophysectomized male rats that had received a single injection of GH as indicated were loaded on an 8% SDS-polyacrylamide gel. After electrophoresis, the proteins were transferred to a polyvinylidene fluoride membrane (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Aylesbury, UK) that was incubated overnight with the anti-C/EBP{alpha} antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc.; 1:5000) used for EMSA or with an anti-HNF-4 antibody (1:5000), provided by M. Pontoglio. Protein-antibody complexes were visualized using the Enhanced Chemiluminescence Detection System of Roche Molecular Biochemicals, Inc. (Mannheim, Germany).

Northern blot analysis
Total RNA (20 µg) from the liver of hypophysectomized male rats that had received a single injection of GH as indicated was size-fractionated on a denaturing 1% agarose gel and transferred to a nylon membrane (Hybond-N, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) by overnight vacuum blotting (VacuGeneXL, Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). After UV cross-linking (Stratalinker, Stratagene, La Jolla, CA), the membrane was hybridized to a rat C/EBP{alpha} cDNA probe labeled by random priming with 32P. The membrane was rehybridized with a 32P-labeled oligonucleotide specific for 18S ribosomal RNA to correct for variations in RNA concentration.


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
C/EBP{alpha} binds to the hnf6 gene promoter
To determine which liver transcription factors are regulated by GH in the liver, we analyzed the hnf6 gene promoter, which we had shown earlier to be stimulated by GH (12). Examination of the promoter sequence (17) pointed to a putative C/EBP-binding site in a region highly conserved between rat and mouse, just upstream of the TATA box (HCI in Fig. 1Go). Consistent with this, the HCI region was protected by rat liver nuclear extracts in DNase I footprinting experiments (Fig. 2AGo). To identify the DNA-binding proteins involved, we performed EMSA with a probe corresponding to the HCI region (Fig. 2BGo). Such experiments conducted with rat liver nuclear extracts showed that the proteins that bind to site HCI belong to the C/EBP family. Indeed, the specific complexes were prevented by addition of a C/EBP-binding oligonucleotide, but not of a Sp1-binding oligonucleotide (Fig. 2BGo, lanes 3–6). Pretreatment of the extracts at 80 C for 5 min showed that the complexes are heat stable (Fig. 2BGo, lane 8), as expected for C/EBP. The liver contains several C/EBP isoforms that bind to DNA as homodimers or heterodimers (14, 18). Preincubation with an antibody directed against the C/EBP{alpha} isoform retarded the migration of the main complex (Fig. 2BGo, lane 7). EMSA with extracts from COS-7 cells transfected, or not, with a C/EBP{alpha} expression vector confirmed that C/EBP{alpha} binds to the HCI site (Fig. 2BGo, lanes 1 and 2).



View larger version (42K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 1. Organization of the hnf6 gene promoter and nucleotide sequence of the HCI and HCII regions. Boxes in these sequences correspond to those that fit the C/EBP binding consensus GTGGT/AT/AT/AG or GCAAT. The nucleotides mutated in the promoter-reporter constructs (see text) are underlined.

 


View larger version (46K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 2. C/EBP{alpha} binds to the hnf6 gene promoter. A, DNase-I footprinting experiments performed with extracts from rat liver. B, EMSA performed with a probe corresponding to the HCI region and the extracts indicated in the absence or presence of 50 ng competing oligonucleotides or 1 µl antiserum. C, DNase I footprinting experiments performed, in the absence or presence of 50 ng competing C/EBP-binding oligonucleotide, with extracts from COS-7 cells transfected, or not (nt), with a C/EBP{alpha} expression vector. The arrow in C points to the C/EBP{alpha}-induced hypersensitive site.

 
C/EBP{alpha} binding to the hnf6 gene is inhibited by GH via a posttranscriptional mechanism
As transcription of the hnf6 gene is regulated by GH, we verified whether C/EBP{alpha} is involved in this control. We first investigated by EMSA whether C/EBP{alpha} binding to the HCI site in the hnf6 gene promoter is influenced by GH treatment. We used liver nuclear extracts from hypophysectomized rats that had received a single injection of GH. As shown in Fig. 3AGo, the binding activity of C/EBP{alpha} in these extracts decreased 1 h after the injection of GH, almost disappeared after 3 h, and returned to normal after 6 h. To investigate the mechanism of this GH effect, we determined whether the GH-induced changes in C/EBP{alpha}-binding activity were due to changes in the amount of C/EBP{alpha} protein. Immunoblotting of the liver nuclear extracts used for EMSA with a specific antibody against C/EBP{alpha} showed a clear correlation between binding activity and quantity of the two isoforms of C/EBP{alpha}, with an obvious decrease after 1 h, a strong decrease after 3 h, and a return to normal after 6 h (Fig. 3BGo). These fluctuations were not due to differences in the amount of total liver protein, as controlled by detection in the same immunoblots of HNF-4, the amount of which did not change under these conditions (12). The two C/EBP{alpha} isoforms originate from a single mRNA by differential usage of two translation initiation codons (19, 20). We therefore investigated the possibility that the decrease in liver C/EBP{alpha} protein concentration seen within 3 h of GH injection resulted from a decrease in liver C/EBP{alpha} mRNA concentration. The data presented in Fig. 3CGo discounted this hypothesis. Liver C/EBP mRNA, measured by Northern blotting, actually increased with time after the injection of GH. We concluded from these experiments that GH treatment leads to 1) a rapid decrease in the amount of C/EBP{alpha} in liver, presumably by a posttranscriptional mechanism; and 2) a delayed increase in C/EBP{alpha} gene expression.



View larger version (57K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 3. GH treatment influences C/EBP{alpha} protein and mRNA content. A, EMSA was performed with the HCI oligonucleotide probe and liver nuclear extracts obtained from hypophysectomized rats before or after a single injection of GH, as indicated. B, Immunoblots with antibodies against HNF-4 or C/EBP{alpha} were performed on the same extracts as in A. C, Northern blots on total RNA extracted from the liver of rats treated as described in A were performed with a C/EBP{alpha} cDNA probe or a probe that hybridizes to 18S ribosomal RNA as a control.

 
C/EBP{alpha} inhibits hnf6 gene promoter activity
We have shown previously (12) that a single injection of GH leads to a rapid increase in liver HNF-6 mRNA, which is detectable after 1 h, reaches a maximum after 3 h, and returns to basal levels after 6 h. These changes are a mirror image of the changes in C/EBP{alpha} concentration in liver described here. Thus, if C/EBP{alpha} is involved in the control of the hnf6 gene promoter, it should not stimulate, but, rather, inhibit, its activity. To test this, rat hepatoma FTO-2B cells were cotransfected transiently with a luciferase reporter gene under the control of the hnf6 gene promoter and with a C/EBP{alpha} expression vector. Consistent with our model, C/EBP{alpha} strongly inhibited the activity of the hnf6 gene promoter (Fig. 4Go). This inhibition required binding of C/EBP{alpha} to DNA, as it was prevented by CHOP-10, which is a natural dominant negative isoform of C/EBP{alpha} that prevents its binding to DNA (21). Moreover, overexpression of C/EBPß did not influence the activity of the hnf6 gene promoter (Fig. 4Go), thereby demonstrating that the inhibitory effect of C/EBP is specific to the C/EBP{alpha} isoform. We next investigated whether inhibition of the hnf6 gene promoter by C/EBP{alpha} resulted from the binding of C/EBP{alpha} to its HCI site in the promoter. To do so, we repeated these cotransfection experiments with a reporter construct in which the HCI site had been destroyed by mutagenesis (Fig. 1Go). EMSA experiments demonstrated that the mutation abolished C/EBP binding (data not shown). However, this mutation did not prevent C/EBP{alpha} from inhibiting the activity of the hnf6 gene promoter, and again, CHOP-10 blocked this inhibition (Fig. 4Go). We concluded that site HCI is not involved, or is not the only region involved, in the inhibitory effect of C/EBP{alpha} on the hnf6 gene promoter.



View larger version (40K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 4. C/EBP{alpha} inhibits hnf6 gene promoter activity. Rat hepatoma FTO-2B cells were transiently cotransfected with the wild-type or mutated (see Fig. 1Go) hnf6 gene promoter-luciferase reporter constructs (400 ng) and with expression vectors as indicated. Data are the mean ± SD for three separate experiments.

 
To localize another possible site(s) for C/EBP{alpha}, we performed DNase I footprinting experiments with regions of the hnf6 gene promoter located further upstream by using as a source of protein extracts from COS-7 cells transfected, or not, with the C/EBP{alpha} expression vector. As shown in Fig. 2CGo, a hypersensitive site appeared at -196 with extracts from C/EBP{alpha}-transfected cells. This hypersensitive site was prevented by addition of an oligonucleotide that binds C/EBP. Examination of the corresponding region (HCII), which is perfectly conserved between rat and mouse, showed that it contains several sequences that fit the C/EBP binding consensus (Fig. 1Go). All of these sequences were mutated, as indicated in Fig. 1Go, to evaluate by transfection the role of the HCII region in the inhibitory effect of C/EBP{alpha}. As shown in Fig. 4Go, mutation of the HCII region did not prevent this inhibitory effect. However, the concomitant destruction of C/EBP-binding sites in both the HCI and HCII regions abolished the effect of C/EBP{alpha} (Fig. 4Go).

Delineation of the transcription inhibitory domain in C/EBP{alpha}
The experiments described above showed that C/EBP{alpha} inhibits the activity of the hnf6 gene promoter and that this effect requires the integrity of both the HCI- and HCII-binding sites. C/EBP belongs to the bZIP family of transcription factors, which contain a basic DNA-binding domain and a leucine zipper dimerization domain in the carboxyl-terminal region (16). The trans-activation domain has been delineated by several groups (22, 23, 24), and it consists of three elements, called TE-I, TE-II, and TE-III. To determine which part of the C/EBP{alpha} molecule mediates the inhibitory effect described here, we performed transient cotransfection experiments with C/EBP{alpha} deletion mutants. These experiments showed that the inhibitory effect of wild-type C/EBP{alpha} was only mimicked by the mutant that contains the TE-I subdomain. Mutants that contain only TE-II or TE-III did not exert this inhibitory effect (Fig. 5Go). These data show that the TE-I subdomain of C/EBP{alpha} is required for the inhibitory activity on the hnf6 gene promoter.



View larger version (30K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 5. The TE-I subdomain of C/EBP{alpha} is required for the inhibition of hnf6 gene promoter activity. A, FTO-2B cells were cotransfected with the wild-type hnf6 gene promoter-luciferase reporter construct (400 ng) and with an expression vector (50 ng) for wild-type C/EBP{alpha} (WT) or the C/EBP{alpha} deletion mutants indicated. B, Scheme of the C/EBP{alpha} mutants tested in A. Data are the mean ± SD for three separate experiments.

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
The data presented in this paper show that C/EBP{alpha} inhibits the expression of the hnf6 gene and that GH controls C/EBP{alpha}. This action of GH involves both a rapid, transient decrease in the amount of C/EBP{alpha} protein and a slow increase in C/EBP{alpha} mRNA concentration. The role of C/EBP{alpha} in the GH control of the hnf6 gene is understood when considering the kinetics of hnf6 gene induction by GH. Indeed, hnf6 gene expression is maximally induced 3 h after administration of GH and is deinduced between 3 and 6 h after hormone treatment (12). This profile is a mirror image of the DNA binding of C/EBP{alpha}, which is maximally decreased between 1 and 3 h after GH administration and returns to normal levels 6 h after GH administration. GH-mediated stimulation of the hnf6 gene is therefore associated with the loss of a repressive effect exerted by C/EBP{alpha}. We showed previously that GH stimulates transcription of the hnf6 gene by promoting the binding of STAT5 (signal transducer and activator of transcription-5) and by increasing the binding of HNF-4 to the hnf6 gene promoter (12). The regulation by GH of hnf6 gene transcription therefore involves an increased promoter activity mediated by a combination of stimulation and derepression, followed by a decreased activity mediated by a repressive mechanism.

How C/EBP{alpha} protein levels are controlled by GH is not known. The rapid decrease in C/EBP{alpha} protein concentration after GH administration points to the possibility that GH controls C/EBP{alpha} mRNA translation. A previous report (25) has shown that C/EBP{alpha} translation is negatively regulated by a short open reading frame located at the 5'-end of C/EBP{alpha} mRNA. The effect of this open reading frame is controlled, as it is weaker in liver compared with other tissues. Based on these observations, we speculate that extracellular signals, such as GH, may participate in the control of C/EBP{alpha} translation by modulating the activity of the upstream open reading frame.

C/EBP{alpha} is generally known as a transcriptional stimulator. Our data show that C/EBP{alpha} inhibits hnf6 gene transcription. A similar negative effect of C/EBP{alpha} has been reported for the gene coding for the ß2-adrenergic receptor (26). The negative effect of C/EBP{alpha} on the hnf6 gene requires two cis-acting elements located between -22 and -44 and between -192 and -224. As both sites need to be destroyed to abolish the negative effect of C/EBP{alpha} on the promoter, their activity can be considered redundant. Although the proximal site shows up as a footprint in DNase I protection experiments and detectably binds C/EBP{alpha} in the EMSA, the distal site was only found as a C/EBP{alpha}-induced DNase I-hypersensitive site in footprinting experiments. Despite several attempts, we failed to detect C/EBP{alpha} binding to the distal site in EMSA experiments (data not shown). Our current interpretation is that binding of C/EBP{alpha} to the distal site occurs in a complex of proteins that is unstable under the conditions used in EMSA. An alternative interpretation would be that C/EBP{alpha} binds to the proximal site and to another site, distinct from the HCII site, in the hnf6 gene promoter. C/EBP{alpha} binding to this unidentified site would then induce changes in the binding of other factors to HCII.

Three subdomains, called TE-I, -II, and –III, have been identified in C/EBP{alpha} and are responsible for its transcriptional stimulation properties. Here we show that subdomain TE-I is required for the inhibitory effect of C/EBP{alpha}. This subdomain is therefore bifunctional, and we speculate that its activity is dependent on the interaction with transcriptional coactivators or corepressors, the recruitment of which is context dependent. A similar context-dependent transcriptional stimulatory or inhibitory effect has been shown for the NK-4 factor (27).

In the liver, transcription factors make up a regulatory network with cross-regulatory and autoregulatory loops (13, 28). In this network HNF-6 stimulates the hnf-3ß and hnf-4 genes (11), and HNF-4, in turn, stimulates the hnf-6 gene (12). C/EBP{alpha} is also known to stimulate the hnf3ß gene (29), which controls the hnf4 gene (28). In addition, the autoregulation of the c/ebp{alpha}, hnf-3ß, and hnf-4 genes has been well documented (30, 31, 32) (Fig. 6Go). C/EBP{alpha} has been shown to participate in the liver-specific expression of genes regulated by GH (33, 34) without being directly involved in mediating the effect of GH on these genes. To our knowledge, the present study shows for the first time that C/EBP{alpha} is controlled by GH in the liver. We showed previously that GH stimulates the expression of hnf6, hnf3ß, and hnf4 in liver (7, 12). The GH stimulation of the hnf3ß and hnf4 genes could be mediated by HNF-6 and/or another mechanism. How the c/ebp{alpha} gene is controlled by GH is not known. Still, the data presented here provide further evidence that GH modulates a network of liver-specific transcription factors and demonstrate that C/EBP{alpha} is involved in this process. This network is schematized in Fig. 6Go. Previous reports have shown that GH-regulated nuclear factor (34), the GAGA factor (35, 36), and STAT1 and -3 (37) also mediate the effects of GH in the liver. Whether these factors are implicated in the network outlined in Fig. 6Go remains to be determined.



View larger version (12K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 6. Model of the GH-regulated network of liver-specific transcription factors. hnf6 gene transcription is stimulated by GH. This involves a decrease in C/EBP{alpha} concentration, an activation of STAT5, and an increased binding activity of HNF-4. The GH-induced increase in C/EBP{alpha} mRNA (see text) may contribute to termination of the stimulatory effect of GH. Given the known autoregulatory and cross-regulatory loops occurring independently of GH stimulation (see text), our model predicts that by affecting the levels of the various factors mentioned, GH regulates the activity of the entire network of factors. Solid lines, Effects on gene expression; broken lines, effects on the protein.

 


    Acknowledgments
 
The authors thank O. Lahuna, D. Maiter, and J.-P. Thissen for liver RNA and nuclear extracts, M.-A. Geuning and P. Lause for technical help, and T. Lambert for secretarial assistance. We also thank A. Bailly and M. Pontoglio for anti-C/EBP{alpha} and anti-HNF-4 antibodies, D. Ron for the C/EBP{alpha} and CHOP-10 expression vectors, V. Poli for the C/EBPß cDNA, and E. Ziff for plasmids encoding C/EBP{alpha} mutants.


    Footnotes
 
1 This work was supported by grants from the Belgian State Program on Interuniversity Poles of Attraction, Prime Minister’s Office for Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Affairs; from the D. G. Higher Education and Scientific Medical Research, French Community of Belgium; from the Fund for Scientific Medical Research (Belgium); and from the Fonds Spéciaux de Recherche (Université Catholique de Louvain). Back

2 Senior Research Associate of the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium). Back

Received December 2, 1999.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

  1. Isaksson OG, Eden S, Jansson JO 1985 Mode of action of pituitary growth hormone on target cells. Annu Rev Physiol 47:483–499[CrossRef][Medline]
  2. Baumbach WR, Bingham B 1995 One class of growth hormone (GH) receptor and binding protein messenger ribonucleic acid in rat liver, GHR1, is sexually dimorphic and regulated by GH. Endocrinology 136:749–760[Abstract]
  3. Bichell DP, Kikuchi K, Rotwein P 1992 Growth hormone rapidly activates insulin-like growth factor I gene transcription in vivo. Mol Endocrinol 6:1899–1908[Abstract]
  4. Carter-Su C, Schwartz J, Smit LS 1996 Molecular mechanism of growth hormone action. Annu Rev Physiol 58:187–207[CrossRef][Medline]
  5. Waxman DJ, Pampori NA, Ram PA, Agrawal AK, Shapiro BH 1991 Interpulse interval in circulating growth hormone patterns regulates sexually dimorphic expression of hepatic cytochrome P450. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:6868–6872[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  6. Yoon JB, Towle HC, Seelig S 1987 Growth hormone induces two mRNA species of the serine protease inhibitor gene family in rat liver. J Biol Chem 262:4284–4289[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  7. Lahuna O, Fernandez L, Karlsson H, Maiter D, Lemaigre FP, Rousseau GG, Gustafsson J-A, Mode A 1997 Expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor-6 in rat liver is sex-dependent and regulated by growth hormone. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94:12309–12313[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  8. Jacquemin P, Lannoy VJ, Rousseau GG, Lemaigre FP 1999 OC-2, a novel mammalian member of the ONECUT class of homeodomain transcription factors whose function in liver partially overlaps with that of hepatocyte nuclear factor-6. J Biol Chem 274:2665–2671[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  9. Lannoy VJ, Bürglin TR, Rousseau GG, Lemaigre FP 1998 Isoforms of hepatocyte nuclear factor-6 differ in DNA-binding properties, contain a bifunctional homeodomain and define the new ONECUT class of homeodomain proteins. J Biol Chem 273:13552–13562[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  10. Lemaigre FP, Durviaux SM, Truong O, Lannoy VJ, Hsuan JJ, Rousseau GG 1996 Hepatocyte nuclear factor 6, a liver-enriched transcription factor that contains a novel type of homeodomain and a single cut domain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:9460–9464[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  11. Landry C, Clotman F, Hioki T, Oda H, Picard JJ, Lemaigre FP, Rousseau GG 1997 HNF-6 is expressed in endoderm derivatives and nervous system of the mouse embryo and participates in the cross-regulatory network of liver- enriched transcription factors. Dev Biol 192:247–257[CrossRef][Medline]
  12. Lahuna O, Rastegar M, Maiter D, Thissen J-P, Lemaigre FP, Rousseau GG 2000 Involvement of STAT5 and HNF-4 in the transcriptional activation of the rat hnf6 gene by growth hormone. Mol Endocrinol 14:285–294[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  13. Cereghini S 1996 Liver-enriched transcription factors and hepatocyte differentiation. FASEB J 10:267–282[Abstract]
  14. Lekstrom-Himes J, Xanthopoulos KG 1998 Biological role of the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein family of transcription factors. J Biol Chem 273:28545–28548[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  15. Lemaigre FP, Durviaux SM, Rousseau GG 1993 Liver-specific factor binding to the liver promoter of a 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase gene. J Biol Chem 268:19896–19905[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  16. Landschulz WH, Johnson PF, Adashi EY, Graves BJ, McKnight SL 1988 Isolation of a recombinant copy of the gene coding C/EBP. Genes Dev 2:786–800[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  17. Rastegar M, Szpirer C, Rousseau GG, Lemaigre FP 1998 Hepatocyte nuclear factor-6:organization and chromosomal assignment of the rat gene and characterization of its promoter. Biochem J 334:565–569
  18. Williams SC, Cantwell CA, Johnson PF 1991 A family of C/EBP-related proteins capable of forming covalently linked leucine zipper dimers in vitro. Genes Dev 5:1553–1567[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  19. Lin FT, MacDougald OA, Diehl AM, Lane MD 1993 A 30-kDa alternative translation product of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein {alpha} message: transcriptional activator lacking antimitotic activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90:9606–9610[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  20. Ossipow V, Descombes P, Schibler U 1993 CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein mRNA is translated into multiple proteins with different transcription activation potentials. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90:8219–8223[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  21. Ron D, Habener JF 1992 CHOP, a novel developmentally regulated nuclear protein that dimerizes with transcription factors C/EBP and LAP and functions as a dominant-negative inhibitor of gene transcription. Genes Dev 6:439–453[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  22. Friedman AD, McKnight SL 1990 Identification of two polypeptide segments of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein required for transcriptional activation of the serum albumin gene. Genes Dev 4:1416–1426[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  23. Nerlov C, Ziff EB 1994 Three levels of functional interaction determine the activity of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-{alpha} on the serum albumin promoter. Genes Dev 8:350–362[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  24. Sutherland JA, Cook A, Bannister AJ, Kouzarides T 1992 Conserved motifs in Fos and Jun define a new class of activation domain. Genes Dev 6:1810–1819[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  25. Lincoln AJ, Monczak Y, Williams SC, Johnson PF 1998 Inhibition of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein {alpha} and ß translation by upstream open reading frames. J Biol Chem 273:9552–9560[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  26. Jiang L, Gao B, Kunos G 1996 DNA elements and protein factors involved in the transcription of the ß2-adrenergic receptor gene in rat liver. The negative regulatory role of C/EBP{alpha}. Biochemistry 35:13136–13146[CrossRef][Medline]
  27. Choi CY, Lee YM, Kim YH, Park T, Joen BH, Schulz RA, Kim Y 1999 The homeodomain transcription factor NK-4 acts as either a transcriptional activator or repressor and interacts with the p300 coactivator and the Groucho corepressor. J Biol Chem 274:31543–31552[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  28. Duncan SA, Navas, MA, Dufort D, Rossant J, Stoffel M 1998 Regulation of a transcription factor network required for differentiation and metabolism. Science 281:692–695[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  29. Samadani U, Porcella A, Pani L, Johnson PF, Burch JBE, Pine R, Costa RH 1995 Cytokine regulation of the liver transcription factor HNF-3ß is mediated by C/EBP family and interferon regulatory factor-1. Cell Growth Differ 6:879–890[Abstract]
  30. Legraverend C, Antonson P, Flodby P, Xanthopoulos KG 1993 High level activity of mouse CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP{alpha}) gene promoter involves autoregulation and several ubiquitous transcription factors. Nucleic Acids Res 21:1735–1742[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  31. Pani L, Clevidence D, Qian X, Costa RH 1992 The restricted promoter activity of the liver transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor-3ß involves a cell-specific factor and positive autoactivation. Mol Cell Biol 12:552–562[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  32. Späth G, Weiss MC 1997 Hepatocyte nuclear factor-4 expression overcomes repression of the hepatic phenotype in dedifferentiated hepatoma cells. Mol Cell Biol 17:1913–1922[Abstract]
  33. Tollet P, Lahuna O, Ahlgren R, Mode A, Gustafsson J-A 1995 CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha-dependent transactivation of CYP2C12 in rat hepatocytes. Mol Endocrinol 9:1771–1781[Abstract]
  34. Waxman DJ, Zhao S, Choi HK 1996 Interaction of a novel sex-dependent, growth hormone-regulated liver nuclear factor with CYP2C12 promoter. J Biol Chem 271:29978–29987[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  35. Legraverend C, Simar-Blanchet AE, Paul C, Sotiropoulos A, Finidori J, Le Cam A 1996 A novel growth hormone response element unrelated to STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription)-binding sites is a bifunctional enhancer. Mol Endocrinol 10:1507–1518[Abstract]
  36. Simar-Blanchet AE, Legraverend C, Thissen JP, Le Cam A 1998 Transcription of the rat serine protease inhibitor 2.1 in vivo: correlation with GAGA box promoter occupancy and mechanism of cytokine-mediated down-regulation. Mol Endocrinol 12:391–404[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  37. Ram PA, Park S-H, Choi HK, Waxman DJ 1996 Growth hormone activation of STAT 1, STAT3, and STAT5 in rat liver. Differential kinetics of hormone desensitization and growth hormone stimulation of both tyrosine phosphorylation and serine/threonine phosphorylation. J Biol Chem 271:5929–5940[Abstract/Free Full Text]



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J EndocrinolHome page
J. H Lo, P. P. Chiou, C M Lin, and T. T Chen
Molecular cloning and expression analysis of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) CCAAT/enhancer binding protein genes and their responses to induction by GH in vitro and in vivo
J. Endocrinol., August 1, 2007; 194(2): 393 - 406.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Biol. Chem.Home page
G.-L. Wang, X. Shi, E. Salisbury, Y. Sun, J. H. Albrecht, R. G. Smith, and N. A. Timchenko
Growth Hormone Corrects Proliferation and Transcription of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase in Livers of Old Mice via Elimination of CCAAT/Enhancer-binding Protein {alpha}-Brm Complex
J. Biol. Chem., January 12, 2007; 282(2): 1468 - 1478.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol. Endocrinol.Home page
O. M. Vidal, R. Merino, E. Rico-Bautista, L. Fernandez-Perez, D. J. Chia, J. Woelfle, M. Ono, B. Lenhard, G. Norstedt, P. Rotwein, et al.
In Vivo Transcript Profiling and Phylogenetic Analysis Identifies Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 2 as a Direct Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 5b Target in Liver
Mol. Endocrinol., January 1, 2007; 21(1): 293 - 311.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
H. Yamasaki, A. Sada, T. Iwata, T. Niwa, M. Tomizawa, K. G. Xanthopoulos, T. Koike, and N. Shiojiri
Suppression of C/EBP{alpha} expression in periportal hepatoblasts may stimulate biliary cell differentiation through increased Hnf6 and Hnf1b expression
Development, November 1, 2006; 133(21): 4233 - 4243.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Biol. Chem.Home page
P. J. McFie, G.-L. Wang, N. A. Timchenko, H. L. Wilson, X. Hu, and W. J. Roesler
Identification of a Co-repressor That Inhibits the Transcriptional and Growth-Arrest Activities of CCAAT/Enhancer-binding Protein {alpha}
J. Biol. Chem., June 30, 2006; 281(26): 18069 - 18080.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol. Cell. Biol.Home page
M. Rastegar, L. Kobrossy, E. N. Kovacs, I. Rambaldi, and M. Featherstone
Sequential Histone Modifications at Hoxd4 Regulatory Regions Distinguish Anterior from Posterior Embryonic Compartments
Mol. Cell. Biol., September 15, 2004; 24(18): 8090 - 8103.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Pharmacol. Rev.Home page
H. Schrem, J. Klempnauer, and J. Borlak
Liver-Enriched Transcription Factors in Liver Function and Development. Part II: the C/EBPs and D Site-Binding Protein in Cell Cycle Control, Carcinogenesis, Circadian Gene Regulation, Liver Regeneration, Apoptosis, and Liver-Specific Gene Regulation
Pharmacol. Rev., June 1, 2004; 56(2): 291 - 330.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
F. Clotman, V. J. Lannoy, M. Reber, S. Cereghini, D. Cassiman, P. Jacquemin, T. Roskams, G. G. Rousseau, and F. P. Lemaigre
The onecut transcription factor HNF6 is required for normal development of the biliary tract
Development, March 6, 2003; 129(8): 1819 - 1828.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Pharmacol. Rev.Home page
H. Schrem, J. Klempnauer, and J. Borlak
Liver-Enriched Transcription Factors in Liver Function and Development. Part I: The Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor Network and Liver-Specific Gene Expression
Pharmacol. Rev., March 1, 2002; 54(1): 129 - 158.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Nucleic Acids ResHome page
A. Bailly, M. E. Torres-Padilla, A. P. Tinel, and M. C. Weiss
An enhancer element 6 kb upstream of the mouse HNF4{alpha}1 promoter is activated by glucocorticoids and liver-enriched transcription factors
Nucleic Acids Res., September 1, 2001; 29(17): 3495 - 3505.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Biol. Chem.Home page
R. S. Streeper, L. A. Hornbuckle, C. A. Svitek, J. K. Goldman, J. K. Oeser, and R. M. O'Brien
Protein Kinase A Phosphorylates Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor-6 and Stimulates Glucose-6-phosphatase Catalytic Subunit Gene Transcription
J. Biol. Chem., May 25, 2001; 276(22): 19111 - 19118.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Copyright Permission
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rastegar, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lemaigre, F. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rastegar, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lemaigre, F. P.


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Endocrinology Endocrine Reviews J. Clin. End. & Metab.
Molecular Endocrinology Recent Prog. Horm. Res. All Endocrine Journals