Mitogen-activated and cyclin-dependent protein kinases selectively and differentially modulate transcriptional enhancement by the glucocorticoid receptor

Signaling by tyrosine kinases negatively regulates the interaction between transcription factors and SMRT (silencing mediator of retinoic acid and thyroid hormone receptor) corepressor

Nuclear hormone receptors are hormone-regulated transcription factors that bind to specific sites on DNA and modulate the expression of adjacent target genes. Many nuclear hormone receptors display bimodal transcriptional properties; thyroid hormone receptors, for example, typically repress target gene expression in the absence of hormone, but activate target gene expression in the presence of hormone. The ability to repress is closely linked to the ability of the apo-receptor to physically bind to auxiliary corepressor proteins denoted SMRT (silencing mediator of retinoic acid and thyroid hormone receptor) and N-CoR (nuclear receptor corepressor), which, in turn, help mediate the actual molecular events involved in transcriptional silencing. We report here that repression by thyroid hormone receptors can be regulated not only by cognate hormone, but also by certain tyrosine kinase signal transduction pathways, such as that represented by the epidermal growth factor-receptor. Activation of tyrosine kinase signaling leads to inhibition of T3R-mediated repression with relatively little effect on activation. These effects appear to be mediated by a kinase-initiated disruption of the ability of T3R to interact with SMRT corepressor. Intriguingly, tyrosine kinase signaling similarly disrupted the interactions of SMRT with v-Erb A, with retinoic acid receptors, and with PLZF, a nonreceptor transcriptional repressor. We conclude that tyrosine kinase signaling exerts potentially important regulatory effects on transcriptional silencing mediated by a variety of transcription factors that operate through the SMRT corepressor complex.

Phosphorylation and inhibition of rat glucocorticoid receptor transcriptional activation by glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). Species-specific differences between human and rat glucocorticoid receptor signaling as revealed through GSK-3 phosphorylation

Transcriptional activation by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is regulated by both glucocorticoid binding and phosphorylation. The rat GR N-terminal transcriptional regulatory domain contains four major phosphorylation sites: threonine 171 (Thr171), serine 224 (Ser224), serine 232 (Ser232), and serine 246 (Ser246). We have previously demonstrated that Ser224 and Ser232 are phosphorylated by cyclin-dependent kinases, while Ser246 is phosphorylated by the c-Jun N-terminal kinase. We report here that the remaining GR phosphorylation site, Thr171, is a target for glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) in vitro and in cultured mammalian cells. Increasing GSK-3 activity through its overexpression in cultured cells inhibits GR transcriptional enhancement, an effect dependent upon Thr171. Correspondingly, overexpression of a constitutively active form of the GSK-3 inhibitor, protein kinase B/Akt, increases GR transcriptional enhancement. Overexpression of GSK-3 had no effect on GR-mediated transcriptional repression of AP1-dependent gene expression. Importantly, transcriptional activation by the human GR (hGR), which contains an alanine (Ala150) at the position equivalent to Thr171 in rat GR, is not affected by GSK-3 overexpression. Introduction of a threonine residue at this position (A150T) establishes GSK-3-mediated inhibition of hGR transcriptional activation. These findings demonstrate species-specific differences in GR signaling, as revealed through GSK-3 phosphorylation, which suggests that GR function in rodents may not fully recapitulate receptor action in humans and that hGR is capable of adopting the GSK-3 signaling pathway through a somatic mutation.

Antagonism of glucocorticoid receptor transcriptional activation by the c-Jun N-terminal kinase

The mitogen-activated protein kinases ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase), JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase), and p38 phosphorylate and activate transcription factors that promote proliferative and inflammatory responses, whereas glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activation inhibits cell growth and inflammation. We demonstrate that JNK and ERK but not p38 phosphorylate GR in vitro primarily at Ser-246. Selective activation of either ERK or JNK in vivo inhibits GR-mediated transcriptional activation, which depends on receptor phosphorylation at Ser-246 by JNK but not ERK. Thus, JNK inhibits GR transcriptional activation by direct receptor phosphorylation, whereas ERK does so indirectly. We propose that phosphorylation of GR by JNK or of a GR cofactor by ERK provides mechanisms to ensure the rapid inhibition of GR-dependent gene expression when it conflicts with mitogenic or proinflammatory signals.

Neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) domains and intracellular signaling pathways involved in the inhibition of astrocyte proliferation

The neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) inhibits astrocyte proliferation in vitro and in vivo, and this effect is partially reversed by the glucocorticoid antagonist RU-486. The present studies have tested the hypothesis that N-CAM-mediated inhibition of astrocyte proliferation is caused by homophilic binding and involves the activation of glucocorticoid receptors. It was observed that all N-CAM Ig domains inhibited astrocyte proliferation in parallel with their ability to influence N-CAM binding. The proliferation of other N-CAM-expressing cells also was inhibited by the addition of N-CAM. In contrast, the proliferation of astrocytes from knockout mice lacking N-CAM was not inhibited by added N-CAM. These findings support the hypothesis that it is binding of soluble N-CAM to N-CAM on the astrocyte surface that leads to decreased proliferation. Signaling pathways stimulated by growth factors include activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. Addition of N-CAM inhibited MAP kinase activity induced by basic fibroblast growth factor in astrocytes. In accord with previous findings that RU-486 could partially prevent the proliferative effects of N-CAM, inhibition of MAP kinase activity by N-CAM was reversed by RU-486. The ability of N-CAM to inhibit astrocyte proliferation was unaffected, however, by agents that block the ability of N-CAM to promote neurite outgrowth. Together, these findings indicate that homophilic N-CAM binding leads to inhibition of astrocyte proliferation via a pathway involving the glucocorticoid receptor and that the ability of N-CAM to influence astrocyte proliferation and neurite outgrowth involves different signal pathways.

Regulation of estrogen receptor transcriptional enhancement by the cyclin A/Cdk2 complex

We have found that ectopic expression of cyclin A increases hormone-dependent and hormone-independent transcriptional activation by the estrogen receptor in vivo in a number of cell lines, including HeLa cells, U-2 OS osteosarcoma cells and Hs 578Bst breast epithelial cells. This effect can be further enhanced in HeLa cells by the concurrent expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase activator, cyclin H, and cdk7, and abolished by expression of the cdk inhibitor, p27(KIP1), or by the expression of a dominant negative catalytically inactive cdk2 mutant. ER is phosphorylated between amino acids 82 and 121 in vitro by the cyclin A/cdk2 complex and incorporation of phosphate into ER is stimulated by ectopic expression of cyclin A in vivo. Together, these results strongly suggest a direct role for the cyclin A/cdk2 complex in phosphorylating ER and regulating its transcriptional activity.