PEST-domain-enriched tyrosine phosphatase and glucocorticoids as regulators of anaphylaxis in mice.

BACKGROUND: PEST-domain-enriched tyrosine phosphatase (PEP) is a protein tyrosine phosphatase exclusively expressed in hematopoietic cells. It is a potent negative regulator of T-cell receptor signalling that acts on receptor-coupled protein tyrosine kinases. PEST-domain-enriched tyrosine phosphatase is also expressed in mast cell and is positively regulated by glucocorticoids, but its function is unknown. In this communication, the function of PEP is analysed in mast cells. METHODS: Signal transduction cascades following IgE receptor cross-linking were compared in bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMC) from PEP(-/-) and PEP(+/+) mice. Furthermore, antigen-induced passive systemic anaphylaxis (PSA) was analysed in PEP(+/+) and PEP(-/-) mice. RESULTS: Bone marrow-derived mast cells from PEP(-/-) mice showed impaired PLCγ1 phosphorylation and Ca(2+) mobilization. Additionally, mice deficient in PEP showed impaired mast cell degranulation and were less susceptible to PSA. Treatment of wild-type BMMC or mice with an Au(I)-phosphine complex that selectively inhibits PEP activity produced defects in Ca(2+) signalling pathway and reduced anaphylaxis similar to that caused by the deletion of the PEP gene. Glucocorticoid that negatively regulates a wide range of mast cell action increased PEP expression and only partially inhibited anaphylaxis. However, glucocorticoid potently inhibited anaphylaxis when combined with the PEP inhibitor. CONCLUSIONS: PEST-domain-enriched tyrosine phosphatase is an important positive regulator of anaphylaxis. Pharmacological inhibition of its activity together with glucocorticoid administration provide an effective rescue for PSA in mice.

Antidepressants increase human hippocampal neurogenesis by activating the glucocorticoid receptor.

Antidepressants increase adult hippocampal neurogenesis in animal models, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. In this study, we used human hippocampal progenitor cells to investigate the molecular pathways involved in the antidepressant-induced modulation of neurogenesis. Because our previous studies have shown that antidepressants regulate glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function, we specifically tested whether the GR may be involved in the effects of these drugs on neurogenesis. We found that treatment (for 3-10 days) with the antidepressant, sertraline, increased neuronal differentiation via a GR-dependent mechanism. Specifically, sertraline increased both immature, doublecortin (Dcx)-positive neuroblasts (+16%) and mature, microtubulin-associated protein-2 (MAP2)-positive neurons (+26%). This effect was abolished by the GR-antagonist, RU486. Interestingly, progenitor cell proliferation, as investigated by 5'-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation, was only increased when cells were co-treated with sertraline and the GR-agonist, dexamethasone, (+14%) an effect which was also abolished by RU486. Furthermore, the phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4)-inhibitor, rolipram, enhanced the effects of sertraline, whereas the protein kinase A (PKA)-inhibitor, H89, suppressed the effects of sertraline. Indeed, sertraline increased GR transactivation, modified GR phosphorylation and increased expression of the GR-regulated cyclin-dependent kinase-2 (CDK2) inhibitors, p27(Kip1) and p57(Kip2). In conclusion, our data suggest that the antidepressant, sertraline, increases human hippocampal neurogenesis via a GR-dependent mechanism that requires PKA signaling, GR phosphorylation and activation of a specific set of genes. Our data point toward an important role for the GR in the antidepressant-induced modulation of neurogenesis in humans.

Milk, rather than other foods, is associated with vertebral bone mass and circulating IGF-1 in female adolescents.

SUMMARY: Low calcium intake hampers bone mineral acquisition in adolescent girls. This study explores dietary calcium sources and nutrients possibly associated with vertebral mass. Milk intake is not influenced by genetic variants of the lactase gene and is positively associated with serum IGF-1 and with lumbar vertebrae mineral content and density. INTRODUCTION: Low calcium intake hampers bone mineral acquisition during adolescence. We identified calcium sources and nutrients possibly associated with lumbar bone mineralization and calcium metabolism in adolescent girls and evaluated the possible influence of a genetic polymorphic trait associated with adult-type hypolactasia. METHODS: Lumbar bone mineral content (BMC), bone mineral density (BMD), and area, circulating IGF-1, markers of bone metabolism, and -13910 LCT (lactase gene) polymorphism; and intakes of milk, dairy products, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, proteins, and energy were evaluated in 192 healthy adolescent girls. RESULTS: After menarche, BMC, BMD, serum IGF-1, and serum PTH were tightly associated with milk consumption, but not with other calcium sources. All four parameters were also associated with phosphorus, magnesium, protein, and energy from milk, but not from other sources. Girls with milk intakes below 55 mL/day have significantly lower BMD, BMC, and IGF-1 and higher PTH compared to girls consuming over 260 mL/day. Neither BMC, BMD, calcium intakes, nor milk consumption were associated with -13910 LCT polymorphism. CONCLUSIONS: Milk consumption, preferably to other calcium sources, is associated with lumbar BMC and BMD in postmenarcheal girls. Aside from being a major source of calcium, milk provides phosphates, magnesium, proteins, and as yet unidentified nutrients likely to favor bone health.

5,6-Trans-25-hydroxycholecalciferol: vitamin D analog effective on intestine of anephric rats.

A new compound, 5,6-trans-25-hydroxycholecalciferol, has been synthesized and tested for its biological activity. Like 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, it stimulates intestinal calcium transport in anephric rats, whereas 25-hydroxycholecalciferol does not. But this analog has little if any activity in stimulating mobilization of calcium from the bone of anephric rats.

1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol: metabolite of vitamin D3 active on bone in anephric rats.

Nephrectomy prevents completely the bone calcium mobilization response to 25-hydroxycholecalciferol. In contrast it does not prevent this response to 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. Because it is known that the kidney is the site of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol formation, these results provide evidence that 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol or a further metabolite thereof and not 25-hydroxycholecalciferol is the metabolically active form of vitamin D(3) responsible for bone calcium mobilization.

Osteopenia and vitamin D deficiency in children with sickle cell disease.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence in children with sickle cell disease of low bone mineral density (BMD), a feature found in up to 82% of adults but not well known in children. METHODS: In 53 children (45 SS, 4 SC, 4 Sbeta-thalassemia) with a mean age of 12.8 +/- 2.4 years, we assessed height; weight; sexual maturation; number of hospitalizations, painful crises, and transfusions in the last 3 years; calcium intake; steady-state hemoglobin and leukocyte count; calcaemia, phosphataemia, and calciuria/creatinuria; serum 25-(OH)D and PTH concentrations; and osteocalcin, urinary deoxypyridinoline, and the C-terminal component of pro-collagen type I. BMD was assessed using dual X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: Mean lumbar spine Z-score was -1.1 +/- 1.3 (-3.9 to +1.8). The Z score was significantly lower in girls than in boys in the prepubertal subgroup (-1.74 +/- 0.27 vs. -0.53 +/- 0.31) (P = 0.0169), but not in the pubertal group (-1.15 +/- 0.41 vs. -1.33 +/- 0.70). BMD was not associated with any of the disease-severity markers in girls but was unexpectedly associated with fewer vaso-occlusive crises and hospitalizations in boys. BMD did not correlate with hemoglobin or leukocyte counts. Vitamin D deficiency [25-(OH)D < 12 ng/mL] was found in 76% of patients and secondary hyperparathyroidism (PTH > 46 pg/mL) in 38%. BMD was not related to calcium intake, vitamin D status, osteocalcin, or bone resorption markers. CONCLUSION: A slight BMD decrease was found in SCD children, starting before puberty and being more marked in females. The decrease was unrelated to disease severity, vitamin D deficiency, or bone hyperresorption, suggesting abnormal bone formation as the underlying mechanism.

[Maternal vitamin D status in Martinique]. / Statut vitaminique D maternel à la Martinique Etude prospective de décembre 2004 à avril 2005 sur 63 femmes enceintes à terme.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate vitamin D supplementation and vitamin D status during normal pregnancy in Martinique, a Caribbean region with sufficient sunshine for endogenous vitamin D production all year around; and "to validate" or not the necessity of supplementing pregnant women with vitamin D in Martinique. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective evaluation of their vitamin D status was performed over a winter four-month period on 63 healthy women seen at term delivery. Maternal blood sampling for assays of serum 25 (OH)D, calcium, phosphates and alkaline phosphatase activity was realized in working room. All included women answered a questionnaire allowing to know various parameters known to influence vitamin D and calcium status, as their origin, their food habits, their exposure to sunshine, their supplementation or not with vitamin D during pregnancy. RESULTS: The sample represented 15% of the pregnant women seen in the department over the study period; 16% of the women had received vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy; at delivery, mean 25-(OH)D serum level in the total cohort was 32.6+/-10.7 ng/ml, with no value below 13 ng/ml; serum calcium and phosphates levels were in the normal range. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that, during normal pregnancy, and in the absence of any particular risk factor, systematic vitamin D supplementation is not required in the Martinique region.

[Recommendations for the management of bone demineralization in cystic fibrosis]. / Recommandations pour la prise en charge de la déminéralisation osseuse dans la mucoviscidose.

A high prevalence of low bone mineralization is documented in adult patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Osteopenia is present in as much as 85% of adult patients and osteoporosis in 13 to 57% of them. In children, studies are discordant probably because of different control database. Denutrition, inflammation, vitamin D and vitamin K deficiency, altered sex hormone production, glucocorticoid therapy, and physical inactivity are well known risk factors for poor bone health. Puberty is a critical period and requires a careful follow-up for an optimal bone peak mass. This review is a consensus statement established by the national working group of the French Federation of CF Centers to develop practice guidelines for optimizing bone health in patients with CF. Recommendations for screening and for calcium, vitamin D and K supplementation are given. Further work is needed to define indications for treatment with biphosphonates and anabolic agents.

25-Hydroxycholecalciferol. A comparative study in deficiency rickets and different types of resistant rickets.

The effects of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol were studied in 4 children with deficiency rickets and 22 children with D-resistant rickets, including patients with hereditary hypophosphatemic D-resistant rickets, "pseudo-deficiency" rickets, and rickets secondary to cystinosis or to tyrosinosis. Three protocols were used. (a) 8 days after a single oral dose of 16,000 IU of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, normalization of all biological parameters was observed in all cases of deficiency rickets. A complete lack of response was observed in the different types of resistant rickets. (b) Under prolonged administration of 2,640 IU/day for 2 months, clinical-biological symptoms and X-ray lesions disappeared, and a catch-up growth pattern was observed in deficiency rickets; no relapse of rickets occurred up to 5 months after therapy was stopped. The same dose had no significant effect in 10 patients with hereditary hypophosphatemic D-resistant rickets. A bone biopsy performed in one case showed the persistence of characteristic lesions. (c) With increasing doses of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol varying from 6,000 to 30,000 IU/day and a follow-up of 6 months up to 2 yr duration, clinical-biological-radiologic recovery and catch-up growht was obtained in all cases of "pseudo-deficiency" rickets. In hypophosphatemic hereditary D-resistant rickets, 5 out of 13 patients' serum concentration of phosphorus reached at least 30 mg/liter, but a catch-up growth pattern was not observed. These results indicate that (a) 25-hydroxycholecalciferol is highly active in deficiency rickets; (b) a defect in the conversion of vitamin D(3) to its active 25-hydroxy metabolite is probably not the metabolic defect in any of the different types of vitamin D-resistant rickets studied.

Calcium-mobilizing effect of large doses of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol in anephric rats.

The effect of high doses of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol on plasma calcium concentration was studied in rats receiving a low-calcium normal vitamin D diet. In bilaterally nephrectomized animals, as in sham-operated controls, 62.5 nmol of 25-hyroxycholecalciferol did not produce a rise of plasma calcium concentration. In contrast, the administration of 125 or 625 nmol, doses 1,000-5,000 times the minimal active dose in D-deficient rats, was followed in both groups of animals by a significant increase of plasma calcium concentration. Removal of either parathyroids alone or parathyroid and thyroid glands did not suppress this effect. These data suggest that when large doses are used in vivo, the renal conversion of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol to more polar metabolites is not an obligatory step for its calcium-mobilizing action. The present study does not elucidate, however, the exact mechanism(s) of this effect.

Local action of phosphate depletion and insulin-like growth factor 1 on in vitro production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D by cultured mammalian kidney cells.

The hormonal form of vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D, is synthesized mostly in proximal renal tubular cells. Experimental and clinical studies suggest that the growth hormone may be involved in growth-related fluctuations of plasma 1,25(OH)2D and in the increase of 1,25(OH)2D induced by in vivo phosphate deprivation, an action possibly mediated by insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF 1). We tested the effects of phosphate depletion and IGF 1 addition on 1,25(OH)2D3 production in cultured kidney cells: opossum kidney (OK) cells, LLC-PK 1, and rabbit's proximal tubular cells. Confluent cell monolayers were preincubated in various phosphate concentrations, in the presence and absence of IGF 1. Then, 5 nM of [3H]25 (OH)D3 or 2 microM of 25 (OH)D3 were added to the medium and the cells were incubated for a further 120 min. The amount of biosynthesized 1,25(OH)2D3 in lipid extracts was determined after two different straight phase high performance liquid chromatographies. The experiment showed the following: (a) LLC-PK 1 and rabbit's cells expressed a detectable ability to synthesize 1,25(OH)2D3, while OK cells did not. (b) Partial or total phosphate deprivation increased the amount of 1,25(OH)2D3 produced, respectively in LLC-PK 1 and in rabbit's cells. (c) IGF 1 (25 ng/ml) increased 1,25(OH)2D3 production in rabbit's cells, particularly in phosphate-free medium (1.6-fold), and in LLC-PK 1 cells, in partial phosphate depletion (2.75-fold in 1 mM phosphate, P = 0.015, n = 5, and 3.2-fold in 0.5 mM phosphate, P = 0.043, n = 4). Our findings demonstrate a local action of phosphate depletion and of IGF 1 on 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 production.

1,25(OH)2D2 production by T lymphocytes and alveolar macrophages recovered by lavage from normocalcemic patients with tuberculosis.

To compare extra-renal 1,25(OH)2D3 production in different types of granulomatous disease, and to identify the cell types responsible, we have evaluated the conversion of 25(OH)D3 in 1,25(OH)2D3 by uncultured cells recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage and blood mononuclear cells from normocalcemic patients with sarcoidosis and tuberculosis. 1,25(OH)2D3 was produced both by lavage cells (12/12 tuberculosis patients, 2/6 sarcoidosis patients) and blood mononuclear cells (3/5 tuberculosis patients, 0/3 sarcoidosis patients) from patients but not controls, but significantly greater amounts were produced by lavage cells from tuberculosis patients than those of sarcoidosis patients (P less than 0.001). 1,25(OH)2D3 production by lavage cells from tuberculosis patients correlated with the number of CD8+ T lymphocytes present but not other cell types. T lymphocytes appeared to be an important source of 1,25(OH)2D3 production, since purified T lymphocytes from all patients with tuberculosis produced 1,25(OH)2D3, and 1,25(OH)2D3 production by these cells correlated closely with that produced by unseparated lavage cells. Because 1,25(OH)2D3 can improve the capacity of macrophages to kill mycobacteria, our results support the conclusion that macrophage-lymphocyte interactions, mediated at least in part by 1,25(OH)2D3, may be an important component of a successful antituberculous immune response.

Long-term nocturnal calcium infusions can cure rickets and promote normal mineralization in hereditary resistance to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D.

We report the beneficial effects of calcium infusions in a child with hereditary resistance to 1,25(OH)2D and alopecia. This patient after transient responsiveness to vitamin D derivatives became unresponsive to all therapy despite serum 1,25(OH)2D concentrations maintained at levels approximately 100-fold normal. A 7-mo trial with calcium infusions led to correction of biochemical abnormalities and healing of rickets. Bone biopsies (n = 3) showed a normal mineralization and the disappearance of the osteomalacia. Cultures of bone-derived cells demonstrated a lack of activation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D 24-hydroxylase and osteocalcin synthesis by 1,25(OH)2D3 (10(-9) and 10(-6) M). These results demonstrate that even in the absence of a normal 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor-effector system in bone cells, normal mineralization can be achieved in humans if adequate serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations are maintained; and calcium infusions may be an efficient alternative for the management of patients with this condition who are unresponsive to large doses of vitamin D derivatives.

Role for Hsp90-associated cochaperone p23 in estrogen receptor signal transduction.

The mechanism of signal transduction by the estrogen receptor (ER) is complex and not fully understood. In addition to the ER, a number of accessory proteins are apparently required to efficiently transduce the steroid hormone signal. In the absence of estradiol, the ER, like other steroid receptors, is complexed with Hsp90 and other molecular chaperone components, including an immunophilin, and p23. This Hsp90-based chaperone complex is thought to repress the ER's transcriptional regulatory activities while maintaining the receptor in a conformation that is competent for high-affinity steroid binding. However, a role for p23 in ER signal transduction has not been demonstrated. Using a mutant ER (G400V) with decreased hormone binding capacity as a substrate in a dosage suppression screen in yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), we identified the yeast homologue of the human p23 protein (yhp23) as a positive regulator of ER function. Overexpression of yhp23 in yeast cells increases ER transcriptional activation by increasing estradiol binding in vivo. Importantly, the magnitude of the effect of yhp23 on ER transcriptional activation is inversely proportional to the concentration of both ER and estradiol in the cell. Under conditions of high ER expression, ER transcriptional activity is largely independent of yhp23, whereas at low levels of ER expression, ER transcriptional activation is primarily dependent on yhp23. The same relationship holds for estradiol levels. We further demonstrate that yhp23 colocalizes with the ER in vivo. Using a yhp23-green fluorescent protein fusion protein, we observed a redistribution of yhp23 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus upon coexpression with ER. This nuclear localization of yhp23 was reversed by the addition of estradiol, a finding consistent with yhp23's proposed role as part of the aporeceptor complex. Expression of human p23 in yeast partially complements the loss of yhp23 function with respect to ER signaling. Finally, ectopic expression of human p23 in MCF-7 breast cancer cells increases both hormone-dependent and hormone-independent transcriptional activation by the ER. Together, these results strongly suggest that p23 plays an important role in ER signal transduction.

Glucocorticoid receptor-mediated cell cycle arrest is achieved through distinct cell-specific transcriptional regulatory mechanisms.

Glucocorticoids inhibit proliferation of many cell types, but the events leading from the activated glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to growth arrest are not understood. Ectopic expression and activation of GR in human osteosarcoma cell lines U2OS and SAOS2, which lack endogenous receptors, result in a G1 cell cycle arrest. GR activation in U2OS cells represses expression of the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) CDK4 and CDK6 as well as their regulatory partner, cyclin D3, leading to hypophosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (Rb). We also demonstrate a ligand-dependent reduction in the expression of E2F-1 and c-Myc, transcription factors involved in the G1-to-S-phase transition. Mitogen-activated protein kinase, CDK2, cyclin E, and the CDK inhibitors (CDIs) p27 and p21 are unaffected by receptor activation in U2OS cells. The receptor's N-terminal transcriptional activation domain is not required for growth arrest in U2OS cells. In Rb-deficient SAOS2 cells, however, the expression of p27 and p21 is induced upon receptor activation. Remarkably, in SAOS2 cells that express a GR deletion derivative lacking the N-terminal transcriptional activation domain, induction of CDI expression is abolished and the cells fail to undergo ligand-dependent cell cycle arrest. Similarly, murine S49 lymphoma cells, which, like SAOS2 cells, lack Rb, require the N-terminal activation domain for growth arrest and induce CDI expression upon GR activation. These cell-type-specific differences in receptor domains and cellular targets linking GR activation to cell cycle machinery suggest two distinct regulatory mechanisms of GR-mediated cell cycle arrest: one involving transcriptional repression of G1 cyclins and CDKs and the other involving enhanced transcription of CDIs by the activated receptor.

Mitogen-activated and cyclin-dependent protein kinases selectively and differentially modulate transcriptional enhancement by the glucocorticoid receptor.

Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylate the rat glucocorticoid receptor in vitro at distinct sites that together correspond to the major phosphorylated receptor residues observed in vivo; MAPK phosphorylates receptor residues threonine 171 and serine 246, whereas multiple CDK complexes modify serines 224 and 232. Mutations in these kinases have opposite effects on receptor transcriptional activity in vivo. Receptor-dependent transcriptional enhancement is reduced in yeast strains deficient in the catalytic (p34CDC28) or certain regulatory (cyclin) subunits of CDK complexes and is increased in a strain devoid of the mammalian MAPK homologs FUS3 and KSS1. These findings indicate that the glucocorticoid receptor is a target for multiple kinases in vivo, which either positively or negatively regulate receptor transcriptional enhancement. The control of receptor transcriptional activity via phosphorylation provides an increased array of regulatory inputs that, in addition to steroid hormones, can influence receptor function.

GRIP1, a transcriptional coactivator for the AF-2 transactivation domain of steroid, thyroid, retinoid, and vitamin D receptors.

After binding to enhancer elements, transcription factors require transcriptional coactivator proteins to mediate their stimulation of transcription initiation. A search for possible coactivators for steroid hormone receptors resulted in identification of glucocorticoid receptor interacting protein 1 (GRIP1). The complete coding sequence for GRIP1, isolated from a mouse brain cDNA library, contains an open reading frame of 1,462 codons. GRIP1 is the probable ortholog of the subsequently identified human protein transcription intermediary factor 2 (TIF2) and is also partially homologous to steroid receptor coactivator 1 (SRC-1). The full-length GRIP1 interacted with the hormone binding domains (HBDs) of all five steroid receptors in a hormone-dependent manner and also with HBDs of class II nuclear receptors, including thyroid receptor alpha, vitamin D receptor, retinoic acid receptor alpha, and retinoid X receptor alpha. In contrast to agonists, glucocorticoid antagonists did not promote interaction between the glucocorticoid receptor and GRIP1. In yeast cells, GRIP1 dramatically enhanced the transcriptional activation function of proteins containing the HBDs of any of the above-named receptors fused to the GAL4 DNA binding domain and thus served as a transcriptional coactivator for them. This finding contrasts with previous reports of TIF2 and SRC-1, which in mammalian cells enhanced the transactivation activities of only a subset of the steroid and nuclear receptors that they physically interacted with. GRIP1 also enhanced the hormone-dependent transactivation activity of intact glucocorticoid receptor, estrogen receptor, and mineralocorticoid receptor. Experiments with glucocorticoid receptor truncation and point mutants indicated that GRIP1 interacted with and enhanced the activity of the C-terminal AF-2 but not the N-terminal AF-1 transactivation domain of the glucocorticoid receptor. These results demonstrate directly that AF-1 and AF-2 domains accomplish their transactivation activities through different mechanisms: AF-2 requires GRIP1 as a coactivator, but AF-1 does not.

Distinct glucocorticoid receptor transcriptional regulatory surfaces mediate the cytotoxic and cytostatic effects of glucocorticoids.

Glucocorticoids act through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), which can function as a transcriptional activator or repressor, to elicit cytostatic and cytotoxic effects in a variety of cells. The molecular mechanisms regulating these events and the target genes affected by the activated receptor remain largely undefined. Using cultured human osteosarcoma cells as a model for the GR antiproliferative effect, we demonstrate that in U20S cells, GR activation leads to irreversible growth inhibition, apoptosis, and repression of Bcl2. This cytotoxic effect is mediated by GR's transcriptional repression function, since transactivation-deficient mutants and ligands still bring about apoptosis and Bcl2 down-regulation. In contrast, the antiproliferative effect of GR in SAOS2 cells is reversible, does not result in apoptosis or repression of Bcl2, and is a function of the receptor's ability to stimulate transcription. Thus, the cytotoxic versus cytostatic outcome of glucocorticoid treatment is cell context dependent. Interestingly, the cytostatic effect of glucocorticoids in SAOS2 cells involves multiple GR activation surfaces. GR mutants and ligands that disrupt individual transcriptional activation functions (activation function 1 [AF-1] and AF-2) or receptor dimerization fail to fully inhibit cellular proliferation and, remarkably, discriminate between the targets of GR's cytostatic action, the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21(Cip1) and p27(Kip1). Induction of p21(Cip1) is agonist dependent and requires AF-2 but not AF-1 or GR dimerization. In contrast, induction of p27(Kip1) is agonist independent, does not require AF-2 or AF-1, but depends on GR dimerization. Our findings indicate that multiple GR transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that employ distinct receptor surfaces are used to evoke either the cytostatic or cytotoxic response to glucocorticoids.

Genetic dissection of the signaling domain of a mammalian steroid receptor in yeast.

The mechanism of signal transduction by steroid receptor proteins is complex and not yet understood. We describe here a facile genetic strategy for dissection of the rat glucocorticoid receptor "signaling domain," a region of the protein that binds and transduces the hormonal signal. We found that the characteristics of signal transduction by the receptor expressed in yeast were similar to those of endogenous receptors in mammalian cells. Interestingly, the rank order of particular ligands differed between species with respect to receptor binding and biological efficacy. This suggests that factors in addition to the receptor alone must determine or influence ligand efficacy in vivo. To obtain a collection of receptors with distinct defects in signal transduction, we screened in yeast an extensive series of random point mutations introduced in that region in vitro. Three phenotypic classes were obtained: one group failed to bind hormone, a second displayed altered ligand specificity, and a third bound hormone but lacked regulatory activity. Our results demonstrate that analysis of glucocorticoid receptor action in yeast provides a general approach for analyzing the mechanism of signaling by the nuclear receptor family and may facilitate identification of non-receptor factors that participate in this process.

Genome-independent effects of 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D-3 on membrane potential.

Cell membrane potential, Vm, was monitored in rabbit hypertrophic cartilage metatarsals, amphibian proximal tubule and muscle cells during application of 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D-3, 25-hydroxy vitamin D-3 or cholesterol (10(-10) M). 1,25-Dihydroxy vitamin D-3 elicited quick variations of Vm (in less than 1 min) in proximal tubular cells (whether injected in the lumen or in peritubular capillaries) and in cartilage. The precursor 25-hydroxy vitamin D-3 and cholesterol produced a small shift of Vm in proximal tubule only when applied from the luminal side, but this change was significantly smaller than that observed with 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D-3. Muscle cells were unresponsive to both metabolites and cholesterol. It is concluded that rapid effects of 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D-3 on Vm, in target cells, are specific, most likely due to permeability changes and not related to nuclear protein synthesis; they may contribute to early modulation of cell function.