Peter F. Johnson

MAPK3/1 (ERK1/2) in Ovarian Granulosa Cells Are Essential for Female Fertility

Regulating Oocyte Maturation Understanding exactly how ovarian follicles mature to generate fertile eggs is key to many aspects of fertility treatment. When the pituitary surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) binds to its receptor on granulosa cells of preovulatory follicles, a cascade of signaling events triggers granulosa cells to become luteal cells and the oocyte to resume meiosis. Fan et al. (p. 938; see the Perspective by Duggavathi and Murphy), using the mouse as a model system, targeted disruption of the kinases ERK1 and ERK2 selectively in granulosa cells. The kinases were essential in vivo mediators of LH induction of ovulation and luteinization. Targeted disruption of the kinases derails the molecular events that mediate induction of female reproductive development. A surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland triggers ovulation, oocyte maturation, and luteinization for successful reproduction in mammals. Because the signaling molecules RAS and ERK1/2 (extracellular signal–regulated kinases 1 and 2) are activated by an LH surge in granulosa cells of preovulatory follicles, we disrupted Erk1/2 in mouse granulosa cells and provide in vivo evidence that these kinases are necessary for LH-induced oocyte resumption of meiosis, ovulation, and luteinization. In addition, biochemical analyses and selected disruption of the Cebpb gene in granulosa cells demonstrate that C/EBPβ (CCAAT/Enhancer-binding protein–β) is a critical downstream mediator of ERK1/2 activation. Thus, ERK1/2 and C/EBPβ constitute an in vivo LH-regulated signaling pathway that controls ovulation- and luteinization-related events.

CRP2 (C/EBP beta) contains a bipartite regulatory domain that controls transcriptional activation, DNA binding and cell specificity.

Two members of the C/EBP family of basic region‐leucine zipper proteins enriched in the liver, C/EBP (C/EBP alpha) and CRP2 (C/EBP beta), were previously shown to transactivate the albumin promoter in a cell type‐dependent manner. These proteins function efficiently in HepG2 hepatoma cells, but inefficiently in HeLa (epithelial) and L (fibroblastic) cells. Here we have investigated the mechanism for cell‐specific control of CRP2 activity. We show that CRP2 contains a negative regulatory region composed of two elements, RD1 and RD2. Deletions of RD2 relieve the inhibition of CRP2 activity in L cells, but do not affect CRP2 function in HepG2 cells. These deletions also increase the DNA binding activity of CRP2 approximately 3‐fold, suggesting that RD2‐mediated repression of DNA binding activity is responsible for CRP2 inhibition in L cells. The adjacent RD1 element functions independently of RD2 and modulates the CRP2 activation domain, which we show to be composed of three subdomains that are conserved within the C/EBP protein family. RD1 does not affect cell type specificity, but inhibits the transactivation potential of GAL4‐CRP2 hybrid proteins by 50‐fold. These findings suggest that CRP2 assumes a tightly folded conformation in which the DNA binding and activation domains are masked by interactions with the regulatory domain and that to function efficiently in HepG2 cells the protein must undergo an activation step. We propose that relief of inhibition conferred by the regulatory domains also accounts for CRP2 activation in response to extracellular signals.

An Essential Role for a MEK-C/EBP Pathway during Growth Factor-Regulated Cortical Neurogenesis

Mammalian neurogenesis is determined by an interplay between intrinsic genetic mechanisms and extrinsic cues such as growth factors. Here we have defined a signaling cascade, a MEK-C/EBP pathway, that is essential for cortical progenitor cells to become postmitotic neurons. Inhibition of MEK or of the C/EBP family of transcription factors inhibits neurogenesis while expression of a C/EBPbeta mutant that is a phosphorylation-mimic at a MEK-Rsk site enhances neurogenesis. C/EBP mediates this positive effect by direct transcriptional activation of neuron-specific genes such as Talpha1 alpha-tubulin. Conversely, inhibition of C/EBP-dependent transcription enhances CNTF-mediated generation of astrocytes from the same progenitor cells. Thus, activation of a MEK-C/EBP pathway enhances neurogenesis and inhibits gliogenesis, thereby providing a mechanism whereby growth factors can selectively bias progenitors to become neurons during development.

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-β is a mediator of keratinocyte survival and skin tumorigenesis involving oncogenic Ras signaling

The basic leucine zipper transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-β (C/EBPβ) is expressed in many cell types, including keratinocytes. C/EBPβ activity can be increased by phosphorylation through pathways stimulated by oncogenic Ras, although the biological implications of Ras-C/EBPβ signaling are not currently understood. We report here that C/EBPβ-nullizygous mice are completely refractory to skin tumor development induced by a variety of carcinogens and carcinogenesis protocols, including 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-initiation/12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate promotion, that produce tumors containing oncogenic Ras mutations. No significant differences in TPA-induced epidermal keratinocyte proliferation were observed in C/EBPβ-null versus wild-type mice. However, apoptosis was significantly elevated (17-fold) in the epidermal keratinocytes of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-treated C/EBPβ-null mice compared with wild-type mice. In v-Ha-ras transgenic mice, C/EBPβ deficiency also led to greatly reduced skin tumor multiplicity and size, providing additional evidence for a tumorigenesis pathway linking Ras and C/EBPβ. Oncogenic Ras potently stimulated C/EBPβ to activate a C/EBP-responsive promoter-reporter in keratinocytes and mutating an ERK1/2 phosphorylation site (T188) in C/EBPβ abolished this Ras effect. Finally, we observed that C/EBPβ participates in oncogenic Ras-induced transformation of NIH 3T3 cells. These findings indicate that C/EBPβ has a critical role in Ras-mediated tumorigenesis and cell survival and implicate C/EBPβ as a target for tumor inhibition.

Disruption of the c/ebp alpha gene in adult mouse liver.

The liver-enriched transcription factor C/EBP alpha has been implicated in the regulation of numerous liver-specific genes. It was previously reported that mice carrying a homozygous null mutation at the c/ebp alpha locus died as neonates due to the absence of hepatic glycogen and the resulting hypoglycemia. However, the lethal phenotype precluded further analysis of the role of C/EBP alpha in hepatic gene regulation in adult mice. To circumvent this problem, we constructed a conditional knockout allele of c/ebp alpha by using the Cre/loxP recombination system. Homozygous c/ebp-loxP mice, (c/ebp alpha(fl/fl);fl, flanked by loxP sites) were found to be indistinguishable from their wild-type counterparts. However, when Cre recombinase was delivered to hepatocytes of adult c/ebp alpha(fl/fl) mice by infusion of a recombinant adenovirus carrying the cre gene, more than 80% of the c/ebp alpha(fl/fl) genes were deleted specifically in liver and C/EBP alpha expression was reduced by 90%. This condition resulted in a reduced level of bilirubin UDP-glucuronosyltransferase expression in the liver. After several days, the knockout mice developed severe jaundice due to an increase in unconjugated serum bilirubin. The expression of genes encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, glycogen synthase, and factor IX was also strongly reduced in adult conditional-knockout animals, while the expression of transferrin, apolipoprotein B, and insulin-like growth factor I genes was not affected. These results establish C/EBP alpha as an essential transcriptional regulator of genes encoding enzymes involved in bilirubin detoxification and gluconeogenesis in adult mouse liver.

BCL-3 and NF-κB p50 attenuate lipopolysaccharide-induced. Inflammatory responses in macrophages

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and other pro-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages. Following its induction, TNFα gene transcription is rapidly attenuated, in part due to the accumulation of NF-κB p50 homodimers that bind to three κB sites in the TNFα promoter. Here we have investigated the inhibitory role of BCL-3, an IκB-like protein that interacts exclusively with p50 and p52 homodimers. BCL-3 was induced by LPS with delayed kinetics and was associated with p50 in the nucleus. Forced expression of BCL-3 suppressed LPS-induced transcription from the TNFα promoter and inhibited two artificial promoters composed of TNFακB sites that preferentially bind p50 dimers. BCL-3-mediated repression was reversed by trichostatin A and was enhanced by overexpression of HDAC-1, indicating that transcriptional attenuation involves recruitment of histone deacetylase. Analysis of macrophages from p50 and BCL-3 knock-out mice revealed that both transcription factors negatively regulate TNFα expression and that BCL-3 inhibits IL-1α and IL-1β. In contrast, induction of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was reduced in BCL-3 null macrophages. BCL-3 was not required for the production of p50 homodimers but BCL-3 expression was severely diminished in p50-deficient cells. Together, these findings indicate that p50 and BCL-3 function as anti-inflammatory regulators in macrophages by attenuating transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines and activating IL-10 expression.

Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Transcription in Macrophages Is Attenuated by an Autocrine Factor That Preferentially Induces NF-κB p50

ABSTRACT Macrophages are a major source of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), which are expressed during conditions of inflammation, infection, or injury. We identified an activity secreted by a macrophage tumor cell line that negatively regulates bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced expression of TNF-α. This activity, termed TNF-α-inhibiting factor (TIF), suppressed the induction of TNF-α expression in macrophages, whereas induction of three other proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β [IL-1β], IL-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1) was accelerated or enhanced. A similar or identical inhibitory activity was secreted by IC-21 macrophages following LPS stimulation. Inhibition of TNF-α expression by macrophage conditioned medium was associated with selective induction of the NF-κB p50 subunit. Hyperinduction of p50 occurred with delayed kinetics in LPS-stimulated macrophages but not in fibroblasts. Overexpression of p50 blocked LPS-induced transcription from a TNF-α promoter reporter construct, showing that this transcription factor is an inhibitor of the TNF-α gene. Repression of the TNF-α promoter by TIF required a distal region that includes three NF-κB binding sites with preferential affinity for p50 homodimers. Thus, the selective repression of the TNF-α promoter by TIF may be explained by the specific binding of inhibitory p50 homodimers. We propose that TIF serves as a negative autocrine signal to attenuate TNF-α expression in activated macrophages. TIF is distinct from the known TNF-α-inhibiting factors IL-4, IL-10, and transforming growth factor β and may represent a novel cytokine.

Interleukin-6-Specific Activation of the C/EBPδ Gene in Hepatocytes Is Mediated by Stat3 and Sp1

ABSTRACT C/EBPδ (CCAAT/enhancer binding protein δ) has been implicated as a regulator of acute-phase response (APR) genes in hepatocytes. Its expression increases dramatically in liver during the APR and can be induced in hepatic cell lines by interleukin-6 (IL-6), an acute-phase mediator that activates transcription of many APR genes. Here we have investigated the mechanism by which C/EBPδ expression is regulated by IL-6 in hepatoma cells. C/EBPδ promoter sequences to −125 bp are sufficient for IL-6 inducibility of a reporter gene and include an APR element (APRE) that is essential for IL-6 responsiveness. DNA binding experiments and transactivation assays demonstrate that Stat3, but not Stat1, interacts with this APRE. Two Sp1 sites, one of which is adjacent to the APRE, are required for IL-6 induction and transactivation by Stat3. Thus, Stat3 and Sp1 function cooperatively to activate the C/EBPδ promoter. Replacement of the APRE with Stat binding elements (SBEs) from the ICAM-1 or C/EBPβ promoter, both of which recognize both Stat1 and Stat3, confers responsiveness to gamma interferon, a cytokine that selectively activates Stat1. Sequence comparisons suggest that the distinct Stat binding specificities of the C/EBPδ and C/EBPβ SBEs are determined primarily by a single base pair difference. Our findings indicate that the cytokine specificity of C/EBPδ gene expression is governed by the APRE sequence.

The ability of C/EBP beta but not C/EBP alpha to synergize with an Sp1 protein is specified by the leucine zipper and activation domain.

The rat CYP2D5 P-450 gene is activated in the liver during postnatal development. We previously showed that liver-specific transcription of the CYP2D5 gene is dictated by a proximal promoter element, termed 2D5, that is composed of a binding site for Sp1 or a related factor, and an adjacent cryptic C/EBP (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein) site. Despite the fact that both C/EBP alpha and C/EBP beta are expressed abundantly in liver, only C/EBP beta is capable of stimulating the 2D5 promoter in HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells. In addition, activation of the 2D5 promoter by C/EBP beta is completely dependent on the presence of the Sp1 site. Domain switch experiments reveal that C/EBP beta proteins containing either the leucine zipper or the activation domain of C/EBP alpha are unable to stimulate the 2D5 promoter yet are fully capable of transactivating an artificial promoter bearing a high-affinity C/EBP site. Thus, the leucine zipper and the activation domain of C/EBP beta are absolutely required to support transactivation of the 2D5 promoter. Using Drosophila cells that lack endogenous Sp1 activity, we show that the serine/threonine- and glutamine-rich activation domains A and B of Sp1 are required for efficient cooperatively with C/EBP beta. Furthermore, analysis of c/ebp beta-deficient mice shows that mutant animals are defective in expression of a murine CYP2D5 homolog in hepatic cells, confirming the selective ability of C/EBP beta to activate this liver-specific P-450 gene in vivo. Our findings illustrate that two members of a transcription factor family can achieve distinct target gene specificities through differential interactions with a cooperating Sp1 protein.

C/EBPbeta modulates the early events of keratinocyte differentiation involving growth arrest and keratin 1 and keratin 10 expression.

ABSTRACT The epidermis is a stratified squamous epithelium composed primarily of keratinocytes that become postmitotic and undergo sequential changes in gene expression during terminal differentiation. The expression of the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β (C/EBPβ) within mouse epidermis and primary keratinocytes has recently been described; however, the function of C/EBPβ within the epidermal keratinocyte is unknown. We report here that transient transfection of mouse primary keratinocytes with a C/EBP-responsive promoter-reporter construct resulted in a sevenfold increase in luciferase activity when keratinocytes were switched to culture conditions that induce growth arrest and differentiation. Forced expression of C/EBPβ in BALB/MK2 keratinocytes inhibited growth, induced morphological changes consistent with a more differentiated phenotype, and upregulated two early markers of differentiation, keratin 1 (K1) and keratin 10 (K10) but had a minimal effect on the expression of late-stage markers, loricrin and involucrin. Analysis of the epidermis of C/EBPβ-deficient mice revealed a mild epidermal hyperplasia and decreased expression of K1 and K10 but not of involucrin and loricrin. C/EBPβ-deficient primary keratinocytes were partially resistant to calcium-induced growth arrest. Analysis of terminally differentiated spontaneously detached keratinocytes or those induced to differentiate by suspension culture revealed that C/EBPβ-deficient keratinocytes displayed striking decreases in K1 and K10, while expression of later-stage markers was only minimally altered. Our results demonstrate that C/EBPβ plays an important role in the early events of stratified squamous differentiation in keratinocytes involving growth arrest and K1 and K10 expression.