title: Multiple signal transduction pathways mediate interleukin-4-induced 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Delta5-Delta4 isomerase in normal and tumoral target tissues.
abstract: The 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Delta5-Delta4 isomerase (3beta-HSD) isoenzymes catalyze an essential step in the formation of all classes of active steroid hormones. We have recently shown that 3beta-HSD type 1 gene expression is specifically induced by interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 in several human cancer cell lines and in normal human mammary and prostatic epithelial cells in primary culture. There is evidence that IL-4 stimulates bifurcating signaling pathways in which the Stat6-signal pathway is involved in differentiation and gene regulation, whereas insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins mediate the mitogenic action of IL-4. As a matter of fact, we have shown that IL-4-activated Stat6 in all cell lines studied, where IL-4 induced 3beta-HSD type 1 expression but not in those cell lines that failed to respond to IL-4. The mechanism of the induction of 3beta-HSD type 1 gene expression was further characterized in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells. We have also found that IL-4 rapidly induced IRS-1 and IRS-2 phosphorylation in these cell lines. Moreover, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and insulin, which are well known to cause IRS-1 and IRS-2 phosphorylation, increased the stimulatory effect of IL-4 on 3beta-HSD activity. IRS-1 and IRS-2 are adapter molecules that provide docking sites for different SH2 domain-containing proteins, leading to the activation of multiple pathways, such as the phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase and the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) pathways. The inhibition of IL-4-induced 3beta-HSD expression by PI 3-kinase inhibitors (wortmannin and LY294002) as well as an inhibitor of MAP kinase activation (PD98059), indicates the involvement of those pathways in this response to IL-4. Wortmannin also blocked MAP kinase activation by IL-4, insulin and IGF-1 suggesting that the MAP kinase cascade acts as a downstream effector of PI 3-kinases. Furthermore, we showed that the PKC activator phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) also potentiated the IL-4-induced 3beta-HSD activity, thus suggesting that one signaling molecule that is involved in the signal transduction of the IL-4 action on 3beta-HSD type 1 expression is also a substrate for PKC. Taken together, these findings suggest the existence of a novel mechanism of gene regulation by IL-4. This mechanism would involve in the phosphorylation of IRS-1 and IRS-2, which transduce the IL-4 signal through a PI 3-kinase- and MAP kinase-dependent signaling pathway. However, the inability of IGF-1, insulin and PMA to stimulate 3beta-HSD type 1 expression by themselves in the absence of IL-4 indicates that the multiple pathways downstream of IRS-1 and IRS-2 must act in cooperation with an IL-4-specific signaling molecule, such as the transcription factor Stat6. It is also of interest to note that there also appear to be differences between the regulation of the 3beta-HSD type 1 and type 2 promoters.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Hereditary Cancers, Oncology and Molecular Endocrinology Research Center, CHUL Research Center and Laval University, 2705 Laurier Blvd, Quebec, G1V 4G2, Quebec City, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gingras
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Côté
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simard
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001940:Breast / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D004790:Enzyme Induction; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000494:pharmacology; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D011375:Progesterone Reductase / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011467:Prostate / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013251:Steroid Isomerases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: C021425:3 beta-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase-delta(5) 3-ketosteroid isomerase; D018793:Interleukin-13; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D015847:Interleukin-4; D011375:Progesterone Reductase; D013251:Steroid Isomerases