title: Alpha(1) adrenergic agonist induction of p21(waf1/cip1) mRNA stability in transfected HepG2 cells correlates with the increased binding of an AU-rich element binding factor.
abstract: Stimulation of transfected HepG2 cells (TFG2) with the alpha(1)-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (PE) significantly activated p21(waf1/cip1) gene expression without affecting p53 gene expression. Northern blotting and reporter assay demonstrated that this induction was due to PE stimulation of p21(waf1/cip1) mRNA stability. To further define the underlying mechanism, we prepared a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT)-p21(waf1/cip1) 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) hybrid construct by inserting the 3'-UTR of p21(waf1/cip1) mRNA just downstream from the CAT coding sequence and transfected it into TFG2 cells. PE treatment enhanced the activity of this construct by 6-fold. Deletion analyses indicated that an AU-rich element (AURE) located between 553 to 625 within the p21(waf1/cip1) 3'-UTR was required for this induction. RNA gel shift assays demonstrated that this AURE bound an RNA-binding protein. This protein has been purified 5000-fold from PE-treated TFG2 cells by heparin-Sepharose and RNA affinity chromatography. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, UV cross-linking, and Northwestern analyses indicated the molecular mass of this protein as 24 and 52 kDa. Finally, PE treatment markedly enhanced this RNA-protein binding by a p42/44 mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent mechanism. These data suggest that the AURE located between 553 and 625 within the p21(waf1/cip1) mRNA 3'-UTR, which binds an RNA-binding protein, is responsible for PE-induced p21(waf1/cip1) mRNA stability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kunos
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D000316:Adrenergic alpha-Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D001483:Base Sequence; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D016213:Cyclins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D051959:ELAV Proteins; D000067780:ELAV-Like Protein 1; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010656:Phenylephrine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D000316:Adrenergic alpha-Agonists; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D016213:Cyclins; D051959:ELAV Proteins; D000067780:ELAV-Like Protein 1; C098770:ELAVL1 protein, human; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D010656:Phenylephrine; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase