title: Involvement of multiple transcription factors in the regulation of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein gene expression.
abstract: The rate-limiting, committed, and regulatable step in steroid hormone biosynthesis is the transport of cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane, a process that is mediated by the steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein. In steroidogenic cells, the StAR protein is regulated by cAMP-dependent mechanisms. However, the StAR promoter lacks a consensus cAMP response-element (CRE), suggesting the involvement of alternate regulatory factor(s) in cAMP responsiveness. These regulatory elements are found to be located in a transcription factor-binding site-rich region (consisting of approximately 150 nucleotides upstream of the transcription start site) of the StAR promoter, and appears to be the most important region in regulating transcription of the StAR gene. The StAR promoter sequences in mouse, rat and human are highly homologous, and in the absence of a canonical CRE, multiple cis-elements have been shown to be instrumental in the regulation of StAR gene expression. Nevertheless, it has become apparent that functional cooperation, interaction, and alteration of different transcription factors are involved in the fine-tuning of the regulatory events associated with StAR gene transcription.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA.
authors.forename: Pulak R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Manna
authors.forename: Xing-Jia
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Douglas M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Stocco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D020218:Response Elements; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology; D000098682:Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein
chemical_list: D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000098682:Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein; D000242:Cyclic AMP