title: Role of aspartate 351 in transactivation and active conformation of estrogen receptor alpha.
abstract: Estrogen-dependent transcriptional activation by estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) depends on the conformation of helices 3 and 12 in the ligand-binding domain. To better understand the function of helix 3 in ERalpha, we examined the role of charged residues, which are conserved in most steroid receptors in helix 3, in estrogen-dependent transactivation. The replacement of Asp-351 with lysine (D351K) or leucine (D351 L) completely abolished estrogen-dependent transactivation without affecting estrogen-binding, DNA-binding and homodimerization activities in ERalpha. The mutations dramatically reduced the ligand-dependent activation function 2 activity and impaired the ability of ERalpha to bind p160 coactivators. In addition, the D351K mutant effectively inhibited the transcriptional activation activity of wild-type ERalpha. Furthermore Asp-351 was required not only for the estrogen-dependent conformational change of wild-type ERalpha but also for the constitutive transcriptional activity and ligand-independent active conformation of ERalpha mutant Y537N. Similarly, in the orphan nuclear receptor called estrogen-related receptor 3 (ERR3), the replacement of Asp-273 (the corresponding amino acid to Asp-351 in ERalpha) with lysine abolished constitutive transcriptional activity of ERR3 without affecting DNA-binding activity and impaired the ability of the receptor to interact with p160 coactivators. These data suggest a role of Asp-351 in inducing and stabilizing the active conformation of ERalpha, and our results experimentally confirm the concept that Asp-351 in helix 3 interacts with the amide hydrogen of L540 in helix 12 to form a transcriptionally competent surface for binding p160 coactivators.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA. jeongkim@usc.edu
authors.forename: Jeong Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Mee Hyun
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Byoung Jin
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jun Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seong Jun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Hak Yeop
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Stallcup
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D019281:Dimerization; D004958:Estradiol / Q000378:metabolism; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D004958:Estradiol; D004247:DNA