title: Identification of COUP-TFII as a peroxisome proliferator response element binding factor using genetic selection in yeast: COUP-TFII activates transcription in yeast but antagonizes PPAR signaling in mammalian cells.
abstract: Peroxisome proliferator-response elements (PPRE) are cis-acting regulatory elements that confer responsiveness to peroxisome proliferators and various fatty acids by serving as target sites for ligand-activated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)/retinoid X receptor (RXR) heterodimers. Other cellular factors, including additional nuclear hormone receptors, also interact with PPREs and modulate PPAR function. We have developed a positive selection strategy in yeast to identify mammalian factors that functionally interact with PPREs. Saccharomyces cerevisiae containing an integrated copy of the HIS3 gene under transcriptional control of a minimal CYC1 promoter and two copies of the rat enoyl-CoA hydratase/3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase PPRE was constructed and transformed with a rat liver cDNA yeast expression library. Plasmids were isolated from his + transformants. One plasmid contained a cDNA encoding the complete rat chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor II (COUP-TFII), an orphan member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. COUP-TFII potently activated PPRE-linked reporter gene expression in yeast, and COUP-TFII synthesized in yeast or in vitro formed specific protein/DNA complexes with this PPRE. Significantly, COUP-TFII did not activate transcription of PPRE-linked reporter genes in mammalian cells but rather strongly inhibited induction mediated by PPAR/RXR. Our findings demonstrate the utility of using genetic screening in yeast to identify sequence-specific DNA binding transcription factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Capone
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Rachubinski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals; D051381:Rats; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D019473:Transcription Factors, TFII / Q000378:metabolism*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D015003:Yeasts
chemical_list: D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D014157:Transcription Factors; D019473:Transcription Factors, TFII