Regulation of gene expression by tumor promoters

Regulation of gene expression by insulin

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Signal transduction convergence: phorbol esters and insulin inhibit phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene transcription through the same 10-base-pair sequence

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) governs the rate-limiting step in gluconeogenesis. Glucocorticoids and cAMP increase PEPCK gene transcription and gluconeogenesis, whereas insulin and phorbol esters have the opposite effect. Insulin and phorbol esters are dominant, since they prevent cAMP and glucocorticoid-stimulated transcription. Basal promoter elements and hormone response elements for cAMP, glucocorticoids, and insulin have been defined in previous studies. By using stable transfectants containing a variety of different PEPCK-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fusion gene constructs, a phorbol ester response sequence, located between positions -437 and -402 relative to the transcription start site, was identified. This region coincides with the insulin response sequence that has recently been defined in the PEPCK promoter. Using a vector containing various wild-type and mutated sequences of this region ligated to the heterologous thymidine kinase promoter, we delineated the boundaries of both elements to the 10 base pairs between positions -416 through -407. Thus, although it has been previously shown that insulin and phorbol esters repress PEPCK gene transcription through distinct pathways, the final target of insulin and phorbol ester action is the same DNA element.

Involvement of fos in spontaneous and ultraviolet light-induced genetic changes

Transient overexpression of ras, mos, or fos transcribed from various inducible promoters in NIH 3T3 cells causes significant increases in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and, as shown for fos, in gene mutations. Under the experimental conditions of exponential growth and full serum supply, overexpression of the oncogenes does not increase the proliferation rate of cells. The generation of ras- and mos-induced chromosomal aberrations was suppressed in cells that had been deprived of fos protein by antisense c-fos oligodeoxynucleotides. The induction of chromosomal aberrations by ultraviolet irradiation is also suppressed by antisense c-fos oligodeoxynucleotides. The data suggest that fos protein alone, or a transcription factor that contains fos protein as a subunit, activates or induces the synthesis of one or several mutator functions. Oncogene-driven mutagenesis could account for the accumulation of additional mutations after the activation of an oncogene, which may furnish a mechanistic basis for tumor promotion and tumor progression.