title: Role of tyrosine kinase signaling in estrogen-induced LDL receptor gene expression in HepG2 cells.
abstract: The expression of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-r) gene is stimulated by estrogen in vivo, although its promoter does not contain a classical estrogen-responsive element, suggesting an alternative mechanism of estrogen-regulated expression of this gene. The aim of this work was to assess whether estrogen-stimulated transcription of the LDL-r gene depends on tyrosine kinase (TK) and protein kinase C (PKC) activation, both signaling pathways being activated by estrogen in vivo and in hepatoma cells. Therefore, in HepG2 cells cotransfected with estrogen receptor-alpha, estrogen-stimulated transcription of LDL-r-promoter reporter plasmid was analyzed in the absence and presence of TK and PKC inhibitors. The expression of LDL-r was also compared with the transcription of the complement gene, which contains a classical estrogen-responsive element sequence. Our results demonstrate that the induction of LDL-r expression by estrogen requires longer stimulation than that necessary for complement induction. Moreover, basal transcription of the LDL-r gene depends on PKC activity, while estrogen-stimulated activation of the LDL-r-promoter requires TK activity, pointing to a role of these non-classical estrogen-stimulated pathways in the transcriptional regulation of the LDL-r.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università Roma Tre V. le G. Marconi, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Enza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Distefano
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gillette
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hanstein
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pallottini
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brüning
authors.forename: Wilhelm
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Krone
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trentalance
mesh_terms: D004789:Enzyme Activation; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011973:Receptors, LDL / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D004967:Estrogens; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011973:Receptors, LDL; D004958:Estradiol; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D011493:Protein Kinase C