Mechanism of action of a repressor of dioxin-dependent induction of Cyp1a1 gene transcription

A dominant mutant of Hepa-1 cells, c31, expresses a repressor that prevents 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-dependent stimulation of Cyp1a1 transcription. The repressor acts via the xenobiotic-responsive elements (XREs), which are the DNA-binding sites for the aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor-TCDD complex during transcriptional activation of the gene. High-salt nuclear extracts prepared from c31 cells grown with TCDD contained normal levels of the Ah receptor which bound the XRE with normal affinity, as judged by in vitro gel mobility shift assays. Furthermore, extracts prepared from these cells, grown either with or without TCDD, contained no novel XRE-binding proteins compared with extracts from wild-type Hepa-1 cells. However, in vivo genomic footprinting demonstrated that TCDD treatment leads to binding of the Ah receptor to the XREs in Hepa-1 but not mutant cells. This finding suggests that the repressor associates with the Ah receptor to prevent its binding to the XREs and that high-salt treatment either causes dissociation of the receptor/repressor complex or fails to extract the repressor from nuclei. The results underscore the importance of using both in vivo and in vitro assays for analyzing DNA-protein interactions.

Genetic and molecular analysis of the Ah receptor and of Cyp1a1 gene expression

The Ah receptor is a soluble protein complex that mediates carcinogenesis by a wide range of environmental pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic amines, and polychlorinated aromatic compounds. The best understood activity of the receptor concerns its role in the induction of cytochrome P450IA1. We undertook a somatic cell genetic analysis of P450IA1 induction using the mouse hepatoma cell line, Hepa-1. Clones of Hepa-1 were isolated that are defective in induction of P450IA1. Evidence was obtained that the clones are mutational in origin. Cell fusion experiments demonstrated that a few of the mutants are dominant, while the majority are recessive. The dominant mutants were shown to synthesize a repressor of P450IA1 transcription. The recessive mutants were assigned to 4 complementation groups (probably corresponding to 4 different genes). Complementation group A corresponds to the P450IA1 structural gene. Mutations in the B, C and D genes all affect functioning of the Ah receptor. A 'reverse selection procedure', whereby cells that express P450IA1 inducibility can be selected from a majority population of cells lacking inducibility, was developed. The reverse selection procedure was used to isolate transfectants of representative recessive mutants in which the mutational defects are complemented by exogenously applied genomic DNA. A human DNA-derived transfectant of a C- mutant was used to clone the human C gene. The C gene is not the ligand-binding subunit of the Ah receptor but is a protein that is required for translocation of Ah receptor-ligand complexes from cytoplasm to nucleus. In analogous experiments the dominant gene from one of the dominant mutants was transfected into wild-type Hepa-1 cells. Success in transfecting the dominant gene should provide the means for cloning it.