title: Pgc-1-related coactivator, a novel, serum-inducible coactivator of nuclear respiratory factor 1-dependent transcription in mammalian cells.
abstract: The thermogenic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma) coactivator 1 (PGC-1) has previously been shown to activate mitochondrial biogenesis in part through a direct interaction with nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1). In order to identify related coactivators that act through NRF-1, we searched the databases for sequences with similarities to PGC-1. Here, we describe the first characterization of a 177-kDa transcriptional coactivator, designated PGC-1-related coactivator (PRC). PRC is ubiquitously expressed in murine and human tissues and cell lines; but unlike PGC-1, PRC was not dramatically up-regulated during thermogenesis in brown fat. However, its expression was down-regulated in quiescent BALB/3T3 cells and was rapidly induced by reintroduction of serum, conditions where PGC-1 was not detected. PRC activated NRF-1-dependent promoters in a manner similar to that observed for PGC-1. Moreover, NRF-1 was immunoprecipitated from cell extracts by antibodies directed against PRC, and both proteins were colocalized to the nucleoplasm by confocal laser scanning microscopy. PRC interacts in vitro with the NRF-1 DNA binding domain through two distinct recognition motifs that are separated by an unstructured proline-rich region. PRC also contains a potent transcriptional activation domain in its amino terminus adjacent to an LXXLL motif. The spatial arrangement of these functional domains coincides with those found in PGC-1, supporting the conclusion that PRC and PGC-1 are structurally and functionally related. We conclude that PRC is a functional relative of PGC-1 that operates through NRF-1 and possibly other activators in response to proliferative signals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Northwestern Medical School, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Scarpulla
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051265:NF-E2-Related Factor 1; D051266:Nuclear Respiratory Factor 1; D051264:Nuclear Respiratory Factors; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051265:NF-E2-Related Factor 1; C495633:NRF1 protein, human; C495634:Nrf1 protein, mouse; D051266:Nuclear Respiratory Factor 1; D051264:Nuclear Respiratory Factors; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; C111264:peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1