title: Presence of glucocorticoid responsive elements in the mitochondrial genome.
abstract: Glucocorticoids rapidly affect nuclear RNA synthesis by binding, as hormone-receptor complexes, to Glucocorticoid Responsive Elements (GRE), differently positioned in glucocorticoid inducible genes. Glucocorticoids also affect, within minutes, mitochondrial RNA synthesis. We therefore searched for GREs in the mitochondrial genome of human (H), rat (R) and mouse (M) and found a number of such potential elements as follows: one within the 12s - rRNA gene (H1, R1 and M1) one within (H2), or at the start (R2, M2), of the presumptive protein 1 gene and three within the mouse cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene (COX1, COX2 and COX3). The nucleotide sequence of H1, R1 and M1 reveals the possibility of the formation of hairpin structures, stabilized by hydrogen bond formation, between three or four consecutive bases. The presence of potential GREs in the mitochondrial genome suggests an adjustment of mitochondrial metabolic control to the general control mechanisms of the cell.
authors.affiliation: National Hellenic Research Foundation, Biological Research Center, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Ioannou
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsawdaroglou
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Sekeris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D005796:Genes / Q000187:drug effects; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV