title: Regulation of the mdm2 oncogene by thyroid hormone receptor.
abstract: The mdm2 gene is positively regulated by p53 through a p53-responsive DNA element in the first intron of the mdm2 gene. mdm2 binds p53, thereby abrogating the ability of p53 to activate the mdm2 gene, and thus forming an autoregulatory loop of mdm2 gene regulation. Although the mdm2 gene is thought to act as an oncogene by blocking the activity of p53, recent studies indicate that mdm2 can act independently of p53 and block the G1 cell cycle arrest mediated by members of the retinoblastoma gene family and can activate E2F1/DP1 and the cyclin A gene promoter. In addition, factors other than p53 have recently been shown to regulate the mdm2 gene. In this article, we report that thyroid hormone (T3) receptors (T3Rs), but not the closely related members of the nuclear thyroid hormone/retinoid receptor gene family (retinoic acid receptor, vitamin D receptor, peroxisome proliferation activation receptor, or retinoid X receptor), regulate mdm2 through the same intron sequences that are modulated by p53. Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor I, an orphan nuclear receptor which normally acts as a transcriptional repressor, also activates mdm2 through the same intron region of the mdm2 gene. Two T3R-responsive DNA elements were identified and further mapped to sequences within each of the p53 binding sites of the mdm2 intron. A 10-amino-acid sequence in the N-terminal region of T3Ralpha that is important for transactivation and interaction with TFIIB was also found to be important for activation of the mdm2 gene response element. T3 was found to stimulate the endogenous mdm2 gene in GH4C1 cells. These cells are known to express T3Rs, and T3 is known to stimulate replication of these cells via an effect in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Our findings, which indicate that T3Rs can regulate the mdm2 gene independently of p53, provide an explanation for certain known effects of T3 and T3Rs on cell proliferation. In addition, these findings provide further evidence for p53-independent regulation of mdm2 which could lead to the development of tumors from cells that express low levels of p53 or that express p53 mutants defective in binding to and activating the mdm2 gene.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pharmacology, Division of Clinical and Molecular Endocrinology, New York University Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Desai-Yajnik
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Samuels
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051838:COUP Transcription Factor I; D002460:Cell Line; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D008024:Ligands; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D051736:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes; D051381:Rats; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000378:metabolism; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D011988:Receptors, Thyroid Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D020218:Response Elements; D047488:Retinoid X Receptors; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D035581:Transcription Factor TFIIB; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000494:pharmacology; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051838:COUP Transcription Factor I; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D008024:Ligands; C497589:NR2F1 protein, human; C497591:Nr2f1 protein, rat; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; D011988:Receptors, Thyroid Hormone; D047488:Retinoid X Receptors; D035581:Transcription Factor TFIIB; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D014284:Triiodothyronine; C497206:MDM2 protein, human; C497208:Mdm2 protein, rat; D051736:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2