The histone deacetylase-3 complex contains nuclear receptor corepressors.

Acetylation and deacetylation of nucleosomal histones have profound effects on gene transcription in all eukaryotes. In humans, three highly homologous class I and four class II histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes have been identified to date. The class I deacetylases HDAC1 and HDAC2 are components of multisubunit complexes, one of which could associate with the nuclear hormone receptor corepressor, N-CoR. N-CoR also interacts with class II deacetylases HDAC4, HDAC5, and HDAC7. In comparison with HDAC1 and HDAC2, HDAC3 remains relatively uncharacterized, and very few proteins have been shown to interact with HDAC3. Using an affinity purification approach, we isolated an enzymatically active HDAC3 complex that contained members of the nuclear receptor corepressor family. Deletion analysis of N-CoR revealed that HDAC3 binds multiple N-CoR regions in vitro and that all of these regions are required for maximal binding in vivo. The N-CoR domains that interact with HDAC3 are distinct from those that bind other HDACs. Transient overexpression of HDAC3 and microinjection of Abs against HDAC3 showed that a component of transcriptional repression mediated by N-CoR depends on HDAC3. Interestingly, data suggest that interaction with a region of N-CoR augments the deacetylase activity of HDAC3. These results provide a possible molecular mechanism for HDAC3 regulation and argue that N-CoR is a platform in which distinct domains can interact with most of the known HDACs.

Molecular determinants of nuclear receptor-corepressor interaction.

Retinoic acid and thyroid hormone receptors can act alternatively as ligand-independent repressors or ligand-dependent activators, based on an exchange of N-CoR or SMRT-containing corepressor complexes for coactivator complexes in response to ligands. We provide evidence that the molecular basis of N-CoR recruitment is similar to that of coactivator recruitment, involving cooperative binding of two helical interaction motifs within the N-CoR carboxyl terminus to both subunits of a RAR-RXR heterodimer. The N-CoR and SMRT nuclear receptor interaction motifs exhibit a consensus sequence of LXX I/H I XXX I/L, representing an extended helix compared to the coactivator LXXLL helix, which is able to interact with specific residues in the same receptor pocket required for coactivator binding. We propose a model in which discrimination of the different lengths of the coactivator and corepressor interaction helices by the nuclear receptor AF2 motif provides the molecular basis for the exchange of coactivators for corepressors, with ligand-dependent formation of the charge clamp that stabilizes LXXLL binding sterically inhibiting interaction of the extended corepressor helix.

Jun in Drosophila development: redundant and nonredundant functions and regulation by two MAPK signal transduction pathways.

Drosophila Jun is shown to be involved in different signal transduction pathways and developmental decisions. Dorsal closure, a morphogenetic process occurring during Drosophila embryogenesis, is regulated by Hemipterous (Hep) and Basket (Bsk), homologs of JNKK and JNK, respectively. Embryos lacking Jun activity exhibit a dorsal closure phenotype, very similar to that of bsk and hep mutants, indicating that Jun is a target of Hep/Bsk signaling. In eye and wing development Jun participates in a separate signaling pathway that is comprised of Ras, Raf, and the ERK-type kinase Rolled. In contrast to the strict requirement for Jun in dorsal closure, its role in the eye is redundant but can be uncovered by mutations in other signaling components. The redundant function of Jun in eye development may contribute to the precision of photoreceptor differentiation and ommatidial assembly.

Phosphorylation of Drosophila Jun by the MAP kinase rolled regulates photoreceptor differentiation.

Drosophila Jun (D-Jun) is a nuclear component of the receptor tyrosine kinase/Ras signal transduction pathway which triggers photoreceptor differentiation during eye development. Here we show that D-Jun is a substrate for the ERK-related Drosophila MAP kinase Rolled, which has previously been shown to be a part of this pathway. A D-Jun mutant that carries alanines in place of the Rolled phosphorylation sites acts as a dominant suppressor of photoreceptor cell fate if expressed in the eye imaginal disc. In contrast, a mutant in which the phosphorylation sites are replaced by phosphate-mimetic Asp residues, as well as a VP16-D-Jun fusion protein, can promote photoreceptor differentiation. These data implicate Jun phosphorylation in the choice between neuronal and non-neuronal fate during Drosophila eye development.

Ubiquitin-dependent c-Jun degradation in vivo is mediated by the delta domain.

The role of the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis system in c-Jun breakdown was investigated. Using in vitro experiments and a novel in vivo assay that utilizes molecularly-tagged ubiquitin and c-Jun proteins, it was shown that c-Jun, but not its transforming counterpart, retroviral v-Jun, can be efficiently multiubiquitinated. Consistently, v-Jun has a longer half-life than c-Jun. Mutagenesis experiments indicate that the reason for the escape of v-Jun from multiubiquitination and its resulting stabilization is the deletion of the delta domain, a stretch of 27 amino acids that is present in c-Jun but not in v-Jun. c-Jun sequences containing the delta domain, when transferred to the bacterial beta-galactosidase protein, function as a cis-acting ubiquitination and degradation signal. The correlation between transforming ability and the escape from ubiquitin-dependent degradation described here suggests a novel route to oncogenesis.

Drosophila Jun mediates Ras-dependent photoreceptor determination.

The expression of the D. melanogaster transcription factor Jun in the eye imaginal disc correlates temporally and spatially with the determination of neuronal photoreceptor fate. Expression of dominant negative forms of Jun in photoreceptor precursor cells results in dose-dependent loss of photoreceptors in the adult fly. Conversely, localized overexpression of Jun in the eye imaginal disc can induce the differentiation of additional photoreceptor cells. Furthermore, the transformation of nonneuronal cone cells into R7 neurons elicited by constitutively active forms of sevenless, Ras1, Raf, and MAP kinase is relieved in the presence of Jun mutants. These results demonstrate a requirement of Jun downstream of the sevenless/ras signaling pathway for neuronal development in the Drosophila eye.