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Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 2005, p. 1879-1890, Vol. 25, No. 5
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.25.5.1879-1890.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Lioudmila A. Lebedeva,
Miyuki Suzawa,
Subhagya A. Wadekar,
Marion Desclozeaux, and
Holly A. Ingraham*
Department of Physiology, Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, Graduate Program in Biological Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Received 16 September 2004/ Returned for modification 18 October 2004/ Accepted 26 November 2004
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strongly promoted SF-1
sumoylation, and addition of DP103 enhanced both PIAS-dependent
receptor sumoylation and SF-1 relocalization to discrete nuclear
bodies. Taken together, we propose that DEAD-box RNA helicases are
directly coupled to transcriptional repression by protein
sumoylation. |
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FIG. 1. Subfamily
V receptors are sumoylated in the hinge region. (A) A
schematic of the domain structures and percentages of protein identity
for Drosophila (dm) Ftz-F1 and mouse SF-1 and LRH-1 are shown,
with SUMO sites (S) and phosphorylation sites (P)
indicated. The repression domain is also shown (R, black square).
(B) An anti-HA Western blot of COS-7 lysates is shown after
transfection with HA-epitope tagged SF-1 or LRH-1 and SUMO1 or
GFP-SUMO1. The slower-migrating forms of each receptor are indicated
(arrowheads), and all lysates were prepared in the presence of NEM, an
inhibitor of SUMO isopeptidases. (C) Western blots are shown
for Y1 whole-cell lysates treated with (+) or without
() 20 mM NEM. Protein was detected with an anti-SF-1 antibody.
Upshifted SF-1 after NEM treatment is indicated by an arrowhead.
(D) An anti-HA Western blot of COS-7 cells is shown for empty
vector control (pCI), the HA-SF-1 wild type, and lysine mutants
with sumoylated SF-1 (arrowhead) and nonsumoylated SF-1 (SF-1)
indicated; SUMO1 was coexpressed in all conditions. A control
immunoblot for SUMO1 is shown below. (E) An anti-SUMO1
Western blot of HA-immunoprecipitated lysates from COS-7 cells
transfected with the wild type or lysine mutants of SF-1 is shown, with
sumoylated SF-1 (arrowhead) and nonspecific bands (NS) indicated. A
control immunoblot for HA-SF-1 expression is shown below. One
microgram of each plasmid was added for all transfections.
(F) In vitro sumoylation of the in vitro-transcribed and
-translated 35S-labeled wild-type and lysine mutants of SF-1
(1 µl) was carried out as described in Materials and Methods.
Unmodified SF-1 (SF-1) and sumoylated SF-1 (arrowheads) are indicated.
, anti; IP, immunoprecipitation; WB, Western
blotting.
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Phosphorylation and sumoylation are
posttranslational modifications known to modulate nuclear receptors.
Phosphorylation of SF-1 is proposed to increase receptor activity by
stabilization of the LBD and enhanced cofactor recruitment
(8,
11,
15). On the other hand,
sumoylation of transcription factors, such as Elk-1, Lef1, and nearly
all steroid nuclear receptors, results in their transcriptional
repression (5,
18,
35,
39,
42,
50). Sumoylation occurs
at canonical motifs of
KXE, where
is a hydrophobic
amino acid and K is the acceptor lysine for covalent attachment of the
small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO). SF-1, LRH-1, and other
invertebrate NR5 receptors are predicted to be sumoylated given the
presence of a conserved IKSE or I/VKQE site in the hinge region (Fig.
1A). SUMO modification of
proteins is analogous to ubiquitination, involving a three-step
ATP-dependent reaction. Processed SUMO protein is loaded onto the
heterodimeric E1 enzyme (SAE1/SAE2) and transferred from E1 to the sole
E2 enzyme Ubc9, which then mediates SUMO conjugation to the protein
substrate with aid from E3-SUMO ligases. Protein inhibitor of activated
stats (PIAS) proteins comprise the largest of three identified E3-SUMO
ligase classes (29). This
protein conjugation is dynamic and easily reversed by
Sentrin/SUMO-specific proteases (SENP/SUSP), which cleave SUMO from its
substrate. However unlike ubiquitin conjugation, which primarily
facilitates protein degradation, SUMO modification of transcription
factors often results in transcriptional repression. Others have
proposed that this repression involves direct recruitment of histone
deacetylases (HDACs) (40,
51) or a relocalization
of the SUMO-marked protein to promyelocytic leukemia protein
(PML) nuclear bodies
(9,
39).
Here we identify sumoylation as an important posttranslational regulatory mechanism for dampening the activity of subfamily V nuclear receptors. Potential mechanisms for sumoylation-mediated repression were investigated and found to involve a functional interaction between the receptor and the DEAD-box RNA helicase DP103.
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was cloned from RIKEN clone
4921511I02 with primers
5'-CCGGAATTCATGGACTACAAAGACGACGACGACAAAGCGGATTTCGAGGAGTTG-3'and
5'-CCGCTCGAGTCACTGTTGCACAGTATCAGA-3',and FLAG-mPIAS1 was cloned from mouse hypothalamic cDNA with primers
5'-CTCGAGATGGACTACAAAGACGACGACGACAAAGCGGACAGTGCGGAACTAAAG-3'and
5'-CCGCTCGAGTCAGTCCAATGAGATAATGTC-3'.PCR products were subcloned into pCI-neo, pBH4, and pGADT7. pVP16-PIAS1
and pVP16-PIASx
were generated by inserting FLAG-mPIAS1 and
FLAG-mPIASx
PCR fragments downstream of the VP16 activation
domain in a pVP16 vector (Clontech). The following constructs were
generous gifts: T7 tagged-mPIASy pCMV (from R. Grosschedl), FLAG-mPIAS3
pCMV (from K. Shuai), full-length mDP103 pcDNA3 (from Y. Sadovsky), and
C-terminal hDP103 pGEX (aa 414 to 824) and full-length 2FLAG-hDP103
pcDNA3 (from C. Glass). Cell transfections, luciferase assays, and metabolic labeling. COS-7 cells were plated at a density of 50,000 cells/ml/12-well plate or 1.5 x 106 cells/10-cm-diameter plate in medium (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's H21 with 4.5 g of glucose/liter with 10% calf serum and antibiotics) 18 h prior to transfection. Transfections were carried out by using FuGene 6 (Roche). For luciferase assays, cells were transfected with no more than 500 ng of total DNA per well and harvested 48 h after transfection (BD Pharmingen). All transfections were performed in triplicate and repeated at least twice. Results were normalized to ß-galactosidase activity and expressed as relative luciferase units or activation, as indicated. For metabolic labeling, COS-7 cells were plated in full medium and transfected 18 h after plating. Cys/Met-deficient medium (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's H21 with 4.5 g of glucose/liter, 10% dialyzed fetal bovine serum, 2 mM glutamine, and antibiotics) was added to washed cells 48 h posttransfection, followed by 1 h of pulse-labeling with 350 µCi of [35S]Cys and [35S]Met (Redivue, AGQ0080; Amersham), washing, and incubation in full medium for relevant chase periods. Cells lysates were subjected to immunoprecipitation, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and autoradiography, and the signal was quantified by phosphorimaging.
Yeast interaction system.
An
expression cassette containing full-length mouse SF-1 (no heterologous
activation domain) was integrated in yeast strain YM4271 containing two
integrated reporters, HIS and LacZ, driven by four tandem
copies of the SF-1 response elements, using the manufacturer's
protocols (Clontech). Full-length FLAG-tagged mPIAS1, mPIASx
,
and mPIASy were subcloned into pGADT7 for transformation into yeast
reporter strains. Transformants were plated on selective medium and
analyzed on
5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-ß-D-galactopyranoside
(X-Gal) medium and by liquid ß-galactosidase
assays.
Western analysis, immunoprecipitation, and coimmunoprecipitation. Cells were washed twice in cold phosphate-buffered saline (calcium and magnesium free); lysed in 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 0.1% NP-40, 0.5 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 0.5 mM dithiothreitol, and protease inhibitors (Roche); and precleared by centrifugation at 14,000 rpm with a Sorvall Microfuge for 30 min. When appropriate, all solutions contained 20 mM N-ethylmaleimide (NEM; Sigma) to inhibit SUMO isopeptidases. Protein concentrations were determined by the Bradford method (Pierce). Equal amounts of total protein were loaded for Western blot analysis. Wild-type and mutant receptors were affinity purified by using anti-HA affinity matrix (Covance/Babco) in lysis buffer (as described above), washed in a modified lysis buffer containing 300 mM KCl and 0.05% NP-40, and subjected to SDS-PAGE and Western blotting following incubation with primary antibodies (anti-HA, 1:2,000 [Covance/Babco]; anti-FLAGM2, 1:2,000 [Sigma]; anti-SUMO1, 1:500 [Zymed]) and a horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-mouse secondary antibody (1:10,000; Bio-Rad). The signal was developed by chemiluminescence (ECL kit; Amersham). For coimmunoprecipitation of FLAG-hDP103 and sumoylated SF1, cells were transfected and lysed as for in vivo sumoylation in 10 mM NEM. Lysates were incubated with anti-FLAG M2 agarose beads (Sigma) in pull-down buffer (50 mM Tris HCl [pH 7.6], 150 mM NaCl, 0.5 mM EDTA, 0.01% NP-40, 2 mM NEM, protease inhibitors), and precipitates analyzed by Western blotting (anti-HA, 1:2,000 [Covance/Babco]; anti-hDP103, 1:2,000 [BD Biosciences]).
Recombinant protein expression, in vitro sumoylation assay, and GST pull downs. Recombinant His6-hSUMO1 (aa 1 to 97) was expressed and purified by TALON chromatography (Clontech). Recombinant His6-hE1 (SAE1/SAE2) and His6-hUbc9 were obtained commercially (LAE Biotech). In vitro-transcribed and -translated 35S-SF-1 and variants thereof were produced (Promega) and incubated with 150 ng of E1, 750 ng of His6-Ubc9, and 900 ng of His6-SUMO1 in 50 mM Tris (pH 7.6), 5 mM MgCl2, 1 mM dithiothreitol, and 2.5 mM ATP at 37°C for 1.5 h, and the reaction was stopped by boiling in protein loading buffer. Samples were subjected to SDS-PAGE followed by autoradiography. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assays were carried out with 35S-SF-1 or variants thereof and purified GST-C-terminal hDP103 as described previously (15, 21).
Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. HeLa luciferase reporter (Stratagene) cells containing an integrated promoter-reporter of five Gal4 binding sites fused to the luciferase gene were electroporated with pCI-Neo and HA-tagged pGal-SF-1 constructs (4 µg). The method used follows that described in reference 46, with PCR conditions of 25 cycles at 95°C for 30 s, 53°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 1 min and by using primers described previously (40) to amplify a 5' 330-bp region of luciferase cDNA.
Nuclear localization and immunohistochemistry. COS-7 cells were plated at 6,000 cells/well in four-well chamber slides (Lab-Tek) and transfected in duplicate 24 h later (total DNA, 0.5 µg/well). At 48 h posttransfection, cells were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde, permeabilized in phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.3% Triton X-100, incubated with primary antibodies (rabbit anti-T7, 1:300 [ICL]; mouse anti-FLAGM2, 1:5,000 [Sigma]; mouse anti-SF2/ASF, 1:1,000 [Zymed]; goat anti-Sp100, 1:50 [Zymed]; mouse anti-PML [PG-M3], 1:75 [Santa Cruz]) followed by secondary antibodies (Cy-3 goat anti-rabbit, 1:1,000; Cy3-donkey anti-mouse 1:1,000 [Molecular Probes]; Texas Red rabbit anti-goat, 1:500 [Vector]), and imaged on a Zeiss LSM510 confocal microscope.
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Sumoylation of
both SF-1 and LRH-1 was demonstrated in a cellular system, as evidenced
by slower-migrating bands after coexpression of receptor with either
SUMO1 or GFP-SUMO1 (Fig.
1B). In addition, a
similar slower-migrating SF-1 species was detected in NEM-treated
lysates made from both Y1 and
T3 cells (Fig.
1C and data not shown),
suggesting that endogenous SF-1 is sumoylated. Further analysis
revealed that Lys194 served as the major acceptor lysine for SF-1
sumoylation, as evidenced by the loss of the slower-migrating band with
the single mutation K194R and double mutation (K119R and K194R,
referred to as 2KR) but not with K119R (Fig.
1D). Our results for SF-1
are similar to those of other recent reports
(6,
22). The identity of
these slower-migrating SF-1 species as sumoylated receptors was
confirmed by immunoprecipitation of HA epitope-tagged SF-1, followed by
Western blotting with an anti-SUMO1 antibody (Fig.
1E), and as predicted, no
sumoylated species were observed with K194R or 2KR mutant proteins.
These results were confirmed in an in vitro sumoylation assay, with
Lys194 identified as a major site and Lys119 presumed to be a minor
sumoylation site (Fig.
1F). Amounts of sumoylated
SF-1 diminish in both the K194R and 2KR mutants; the faint residual
upshifted band observed in the 2KR variant imply that a minor third
site can be sumoylated in vitro. Taken together, we conclude that
subfamily V receptors are sumoylated in vivo and in
vitro.
Sumoylation of SF-1 attenuates transcriptional activity. Previous studies identified a regulatory domain which when mutated led to increased receptor activity; this domain contained the major sumoylation site for SF-1 and LRH-1 (Fig. 1A) (32, 47). Consistent with these reports, we found increased activity of NR5A promoter reporters with either SF-1 or LRH-1 sumoylation mutants (Fig. 2A). Increased receptor activity observed with both the K194R and 2KR receptor mutants was not due to increased protein stability, as judged by results from pulse-chase metabolic labeling experiments (Fig. 2B). Gal4-SF-1/LRH-1 fusion receptors containing the full hinge and LBD also showed a dramatic increase in activity following mutation of the sumoylation acceptor sites. Strikingly, the single mutant K194R was at least 70-fold more active than the wild type, and mutation of both sumoylation sites (2KR) resulted in greater than 300-fold activation (Fig. 2C, left panel). While K119R exhibited comparable activation to that of the wild type, the double mutant at both Lys119 and Lys194 showed remarkable synergism; this is consistent with Lys119 as a minor site. Similar to native receptors, Gal4-SF-1 and Gal4-K119R are efficiently sumoylated, whereas Gal4-K194R and Gal4-2KR exhibit no detectable sumoylation (Fig. 2C, left lower panel). Nearly identical results were observed for Gal4-LRH-1 constructs, where double mutation of K213R and K289R in the hinge region led to strong receptor activation (Fig. 2C, right panel).
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FIG. 2. Sumoylation
represses SF-1 transcriptional activity. (A) Transcriptional
activity of the wild type and lysine mutants of SF-1 (50 ng) on the
aromatase-luciferase reporter (Aro-Luc, 500 ng) is shown for both COS-7
(no SUMO1 added) and HepG2 cells (50 ng of SUMO1 added). Other
promoter-luciferase reporters used in HepG2 cells were the
3ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase promoter (3ßHSD Luc,
153/+2 bp), a synthetic promoter containing tandem
SF-1 response elements from the mouse Müllerian inhibiting
substance promoter (2XRE MIS), and the StAR promoter (StAR Luc,
966/+1); 250 ng of each promoter was used.
(B) The stability of wild-type (WT) and lysine mutant (K194R
or 2KR) SF-1 proteins in COS-7 cells was determined after metabolic
labeling, followed by a chase for 0, 2, 5, and 12 h. An
autoradiogram of immunoprecipitated HA proteins from whole-cell lysates
is shown, with phosphorimaging data graphed as the percentage of
labeled protein remaining after each chase period; levels of protein at
time zero were taken to be 100%. (C) Transcriptional
activity is shown for the Gal4-SF-1 wild type (pGalWT, aa 105
to 462, 25 ng) or Gal4-SF-1 lysine mutants (pGalK119R,
pGalK194R, and pGal2KR; 25 ng) on the Gal4-luciferase reporter
(pFR-Luc, 200 ng; Stratagene) in COS-7 cells (left panel). Anti-HA
Western blotting shows expression levels of the Gal4-SF-1 WT or
KR mutants, with slower-migrating forms of sumoylated Gal4-SF-1
protein indicated (arrowhead). Transcriptional activities of the
Gal4-LRH-1 wild type (pGalWT, aa 198 to 560, 25 ng) and lysine
mutants (pGalK213R, pGalK289R, and pGal2KR) are shown (right panel).
All luciferase activity is expressed as activation over parent vectors:
pCI-neo (C) for panels in A and pM (pGal) for panels in C.
Hrs, hours; WB, Western
blotting.
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FIG. 3. Adding
SENP1 increases activity of wild-type SF-1 but not the 2KR sumoylation
mutant. (A) A Western blot is shown for COS-7 cells
transfected with empty vector (pCI) or wild-type SF-1 (1 µg of
each) in the presence or absence of SUMO1 and SENP1 (1 µg of
each), with sumoylated SF-1 (arrowhead) and nonsumoylated SF-1 (SF-1)
indicated. (B) Effects of increasing amounts of SENP1 (0, 25,
and 50 ng) are shown for transcriptional activity of the
Gal4-SF-1 wild type (pGalWT) and Gal4-SF-1 lysine
mutants (pGalK119R, pGalK194R, and pGal2KR) on the pFR-Luc Gal4
reporter in COS-7 cells. Luciferase activity is expressed in relative
luciferase units. Amounts of transfected plasmids are identical to
those used for Fig. 2C.
+, with; , without; WT, wild
type
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FIG. 4. SF-1
sumoylation mutants exhibit wild-type localization, promoter occupancy,
and sensitivity to HDAC inhibitors. (A) Nuclear localization
is shown for transfected GFP-SF-1 wild type (WT) and lysine
mutants (K119R, K194R, and 2KR) in COS-7 cells; 100 ng of each plasmid
was used and resulted in expression of GFP-SF-1 in 15%
of all cells. (B) ChIP assays are shown for the control
vector, N-terminal HA-tagged Gal4-SF-1 (WT), and Gal4 lysine
mutants in HeLa cells containing integrated Gal4 response elements
fused to luciferase with anti-HA or control immunoglobulin G (IgG). TSA
(C) and NaBT (D) effects on transcriptional
activity of the Gal4-SF-1 wild type (pGalWT) and lysine mutants
(pGalK119R, pGalK194R, and pGal2KR) in COS-7 cells. TSA (0 or 333 nM)
or NaBT (0, 0.1, 1, or 10 mM) was added to cells at 12 h
posttransfection and incubated for 24 h. Cont., control;
HA,
anti-HA.
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FIG. 5. The
DEAD-box protein DP103 mediates SF-1 repression by sumoylation at
Lys194 and binds to sumoylated SF-1. (A) Repression of SF-1
by Dax1 and DP103. Increasing amounts of mDax1 or mDP103 (0, 25, 50, or
150 ng) were cotransfected in COS-7 cells with Gal4-SF-1
(pGalWT) or the pGalK194R (25 ng each) on the Gal4-luciferase reporter
(pFR-Luc, 250 ng). (B) Effect of SENP1 on repression by Dax1
and mDP103. Increasing amounts of Dax1 or DP103 (as in panel A) were
cotransfected with control vector (pGal) or the Gal4-SF-1 wild
type (pGal-SF-1), with or without SENP1 (25 ng), on the Gal4-luciferase
reporter (as in panel A). (C) GST pull-down assays show
binding of the 35S-labeled SF-1 wild type (WT) and lysine
mutants (K194R and 2KR) to increasing amounts of GST-hDP103 C-terminal
aa 414 to 824 (GST-DPC) (1x and 2x indicate relative
amounts used). The 10% input and GST controls are indicated. A
schematic of human DP103 shows the unique C-terminal region and
conserved helicase domain motifs (gray rectangles), including the
signature DEAD-box motif (black rectangle). (D) GST pull-down
assays show binding of in vitro sumoylated 35S-labeled SF-1
(+E1, *SF-1, upper panel) to increasing amounts of GST-hDP103
C-terminal (1x, 3x, and 9x) and to a
nonsumoylated SF-1 control made in reactions lacking E1 enzyme
(E1, SF-1, lower
panel).
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DP103 promotes PIAS-dependent sumoylation and subnuclear relocalization of SF-1.
To further explore how DP103 may affect
SF-1 activity, we first defined the optimal E3-SUMO ligase in vivo. One
of the defining characteristics of an E3-SUMO ligase is its ability to
interact with and promote sumoylation of a given substrate. In both the
yeast and mammalian two-hybrid assays, SF-1 interacted strongly with
PIAS1 and less well with PIASx
and PIASy (Fig.
6A and
B). However, despite this strong interaction, PIAS1 does not serve as an
efficient E3-SUMO ligase for SF-1 in vivo. In a survey of four PIAS
members, only PIASx
and PIASy promoted SF-1 sumoylation in a
dose-dependent manner; this effect was not observed for PIAS1 or PIAS3
(Fig. 6C, left panel). In
contrast to results from the in vitro assay, overexpression of PIAS
proteins in vivo does not reveal detectable sumoylation at noncanonical
sites, as evidenced by the 2KR mutant (Fig.
6C, right panel, and data
not shown). Interestingly, mutating the major phosphorylation site of
SF-1 adjacent to Lys194 (S203A) had no effect on receptor sumoylation
(Fig. 6C, right panel).
Next, the functional effects of overexpressing PIAS proteins on
wild-type and 2KR receptors were determined. Consistent with
PIAS-dependent activation of other nuclear receptors
(24), we observed an
initial activation phase, followed by repression when PIASx
is
added to the wild-type receptor (Fig.
6D). Addition of SUMO1
further enhanced receptor repression, suggesting that increased
sumoylation does silence SF-1 activity. In contrast, increased
repression was not observed with the double mutant 2KR (Fig.
6E). The global repression
observed with increasing amounts of SUMO1 added to either wild-type or
mutant receptors most likely reflects the multiple nuclear substrates
affected by the sumoylation machinery, including corepressors and
coactivators
(23).
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FIG. 6. PIASx
and PIASy are E3-SUMO ligases for SF-1. (A) Interactions
between full-length SF-1 and Gal4AD-PIASx , PIAS1, -PIASy
fusion proteins are shown in yeast expressing SF-1, driving SF-1
response elements fused to LacZ (bar graph) and when grown on X-Gal
medium. The bottom sector (SF-1) shows ß-galactosidase
(ß-Gal) activity resulting from yeast expressing SF-1 (SF-1)
and the empty vector pGADT7. Other sectors show activity in strains
with SF-1 and transformed PIAS fusion proteins, as indicated. Cont.,
control. (B) A mammalian two-hybrid system showing
transcriptional activity of wild-type pGal4-SF-1 with increasing
concentrations of VP16-PIAS fusion proteins (25, 50, or 150 ng). The
empty vector control is shown (pGal). (C) Western blots for
COS-7 cells cotransfected with wild-type HA-SF-1, SUMO1, and
with individual PIAS proteins or SENP1 are shown (left panel). The
right panel shows a Western blot for HA-SF-1 (WT) and lysine
and S203A SF-1 mutants after the addition of PIASx and SUMO1;
1 µg of each plasmid was added. Sumoylated SF-1 (arrowhead) and
nonsumoylated SF-1 (SF-1) are indicated. (D) The
transcriptional activity of pGal-SF-1 (25 ng) is shown after increasing
amounts of PIASx were cotransfected in COS-7 cells (25, 50, or
150 ng) in the absence or presence of SUMO1 (25 ng) with the
Gal4-luciferase reporter (pFR-Luc, 250 ng). The empty vector control is
shown (pGal). (E) Activity of the double sumoylation mutant
of SF-1 (pGal-2KR) is shown after increasing amounts of PIASx ,
as described for panel
C.
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, or PIAS3 showed no SF-1 relocalization (Fig.
7C; data not shown).
However, we noted the presence of fine GFP-SF-1 foci in some
cells with PIASy alone (Fig.
7C). The ability of DP103
and PIASy to shuttle SF-1 to discrete nuclear bodies does not
apparently require SF-1 sumoylation, as evidenced by a speckled pattern
after the addition of SENP1 or with the K119R, K194R, and 2KR
GFP-SF-1 mutants (Fig.
7C and data not shown).
Further analysis revealed colocalization of GFP-SF-1 with PIASy
but not with DP103, which localizes to Cajal bodies or gems (Fig.
7D). These
GFP-SF-1 nuclear bodies appear distinct from endogenous
splicing speckles, as shown by the nonoverlapping patterns between
GFP-SF-1 and splicing factor 2 (SF2)ASF. Moreover, these foci
do not resemble PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), given that we failed to
detect obvious PML-NBs in COS-7 cells under our culture conditions with
two markers, Sp100 and PML (Fig.
7D and data not shown).
Collectively, our data suggest that DP103 promotes PIAS-mediated
sumoylation and, together with PIASy, relocalizes SF-1 to discrete
nuclear foci. Whether these foci are functionally significant remains
to be determined; however, their formation correlates well with optimal
receptor sumoylation, suggesting a functional complex between SF-1,
PIASy, and DP103.
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FIG. 7. DP103
interacts with sumoylated SF-1 in vivo and promotes PIASy-mediated SF-1
relocalization into nuclear bodies. (A) Coimmunoprecipitation
of sumoylated SF-1 from COS-7 cells transfected with wild-type
HA-SF-1, SUMO1, and combinations of FLAG-DP103, T7-PIASy, and
SENP1 (1 µg of each) with anti-FLAG-M2 agarose beads. Western
blots (WB) for HA-SF-1 (3% input lysate, upper panel)
and immunoprecipitated (IP) DP103 (10% IP protein, middle panel)
are shown with sumoylated SF-1 indicated (*SF-1). SF-1 (black
arrowheads) and nonspecific bands (NS) are indicated in an anti-HA
( HA) Western blot of IP DP103 protein (lower panel).
Flag, anti-Flag; DP103, anti-DP103. (B)
Western blots are shown of COS-7 cells cotransfected with wild-type
HA-SF-1, SUMO1, and individual PIAS proteins or empty vector
(Cont.) with (+) or without () DP103 (1 µg).
Sumoylated SF-1 (arrowhead) and nonsumoylated SF-1 (SF-1) are
indicated. (C) Nuclear localization of GFP-SF-1
transfected into COS-7 cells is shown with different combinations of
FLAG-DP103, T7-PIASy, FLAG-PIAS1, and SENP1, as indicated. All cells
were transfected with SUMO1 (100 ng). (D) Subnuclear signals
are shown for wild-type GFP-SF-1 (green), and indirect
immunofluorescence is shown for T7-PIASy (red) or FLAG-hDP103 (red).
Colocalization of GFP-SF-1 and T7-PIASy signals are shown in
the merged figure (upper panels), and the endogenous DP103 signals
(lower panels) are indicated (arrowheads). Staining for endogenous
SF2/ASF (marker for splicing speckles) or Sp100 (marker for PML-NBs) is
shown (red). Note that no positive staining is observed for endogenous
Sp100. In all conditions, cells were transfected with 100 ng (each) of
GFP-SF-1, PIASy, hDP103, and
SUMO1.
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Repression of SF-1 via sumoylation.
In contrast
to the ubiquitously expressed E1 and E2 sumoylation enzymes, most of
the known E3-SUMO ligases exhibit restricted expression patterns and
therefore may direct tissue-specific sumoylation of protein substrates
(48). In considering SF-1
sumoylation, three E3-SUMO ligases (PIASx
, PIASy, and PIAS1)
are all highly expressed in the adult testes
(14,
48), where SF-1 regulates
multiple genes. SF-1 is also needed for male sexual differentiation
(37,
45), and it is possible
that sumoylation of SF-1 is sexually dimorphic during development.
Thus, silencing of male-specific genes in the ovary can be partially
explained by lowered levels of SF-1 or by the actions of Dax1
(30,
41) but may also involve
sumoylation. Interestingly, other factors that function in sexual
differentiation, namely Sox9 and WT-1, contain sumoylation sites, and
the combinatorial effects of sumoylation may ensure gene silencing in
the female. Finally, it is worth considering the in vivo ratio of
nonsumoylated to sumoylated receptors. In this regard, SF-1
haploinsufficiency (2,
28) may stem from
inadequate SF-1 activity due to a reduction of protein levels coupled
with extensive receptor sumoylation.
Currently, our studies are limited to a loss-of-function analysis. Attempts to provide SUMO1 in cis to SF-1, as shown for other proteins (18, 50), have failed due to the precise excision of SUMO1 in COS-7 cells (L. A. Lebedeva and H. A. Ingraham, unpublished data). Whether SF-1 or LRH-1 sumoylation confers any structural changes to the DBD, hinge, or LBD remains unclear; however, results from our ChIP analysis suggest that sumoylation does not alter the apparent DNA binding of a heterologous DBD. Moreover, given that Dax1-mediated repression of K194R SF-1 mutant is intact, we suggest that no gross conformational changes occur in the LBD of a sumoylation-defective receptor. Further structural analyses are needed and will require an appropriate SUMO-SF-1 chimera or SUMO stably conjugated to SF-1/LRH-1. Although our findings point to a functional role for Lys194 and Lys289 in SF-1 and LRH-1, respectively, the role of the minor sumoylation sites at Lys119 or Lys213 (Fig. 1A) is less apparent. Despite the fact that disumoylated SF-1 is only observed in vivo under conditions that promote efficient sumoylation, our functional analyses show that both the minor and major sumoylation sites act in concert to dampen receptor activity. In this regard, it remains to be established whether an ordered sumoylation of SF-1/LRH-1 occurs.
Recent studies report interdependency between sumoylation and phosphorylation. Mitogen-activated protein kinase-mediated phosphorylation of Elk-1 greatly reduced sumoylation at adjacent lysines and led to increased transcriptional activity (50), and phosphorylation of heat shock factor 1 is a prerequisite for stress-induced sumoylation (16). Currently, we find no apparent relationship between phosphorylation of Ser203 and sumoylation of SF-1. Indeed, the phospho-deficient S203A mutant was efficiently sumoylated, and all SF-1 SUMO mutants showed equivalent levels of phosphorylated Ser203 in SF-1 (M. B. Lee, unpublished data). However, it remains possible that the rate and extent of either phosphorylation or sumoylation are altered following modification of the Lys194 or Ser203, respectively.
DEAD-box proteins and transcriptional repression. Historically, DEAD-box (Ddx) RNA helicases are associated with splicing, in part because they were initially identified as protein components of the spliceosome (43). However, other functions for Ddx family members have been noted, and there is mounting evidence that they function to silence transcription factors, including nuclear receptors, Egr1 to 4, and the Ets-like repressor, METS (12, 21, 36, 49). Additionally, GRTH (Ddx25), which is expressed in the testes, is reported to attenuate expression of SF-1 target genes, including steroidogenic enzymes (10). For DP103 and another DEAD-box protein, DP97, the repression domain has been mapped to the C-terminal region and does not require the N-terminal ATPase/helicase domain characteristic of this gene family (21, 36). Attenuation and silencing of transcription are multilayered and multidimensional. So how may Ddx proteins and sumoylation lead to transcriptional repression? Recruitment of HDACs upon protein sumoylation, or by Ddx proteins, offers the most plausible explanation and is consistent with prior literature. Indeed, DP103 interacts with the N-terminal repression domain of METS and promotes HDAC recruitment (21). However, our data imply that repression through DP103 is TSA and NaBT insensitive and suggest that repression by Ddx proteins must involve additional mechanisms other than recruitment of class I or II HDACs. In considering other mechanisms, it is possible that DP103 protects SF-1 from desumoylation. This hypothesis is consistent with the observations that DP103 increased PIAS-dependent SF-1 sumoylation and that additional SENP1 eliminates repression by DP103. The interaction between DP103 and SF-1 remains to be mapped and is likely to involve multiple interfaces based on our finding that Lys194 and/or sumoylation at Lys119/Lys194 is not the sole determinant of this interaction. Another possible scenario is that DP103 represses SF-1 by facilitating PIASy-mediated relocalization of SF-1. However, we noted that sumoylation is dispensable for movement of SF-1 to nuclear bodies; this observation is reminiscent of PIASy-dependent relocalization of both wild-type and sumoylation-defective Lef1 into nuclear bodies that partially overlap with PML-NBs (39). Thus, while sumoylation is not required for subnuclear relocalization of SF-1 (or Lef1), conditions that promote optimal sumoylation do correlate with altered nuclear distribution of SF-1.
Given that DEAD-box proteins are present in both splicing and translational complexes (31), repression may be coupled to transcript processing or translational control. However, studies to date, including ours, have yet to identify a function for the RNA helicase (unwindase) and RNA binding motifs in repression. Indeed, the N-terminal portion of DP103 is dispensable for interaction and repression of SF-1 and METS (21, 49) and for relocalization of SF-1 to nuclear bodies (our unpublished data). Further in vitro and in vivo experiments aimed at delineating the precise role of sumoylation in DEAD-box-mediated transcriptional repression will be of interest.
Support for this work was funded in part by a National University of Singapore Fellowship to M.B.L., an NSF Predoctoral fellowship award to L.A.L, a Susan B. Komen award to M.S., an NRSA fellowship to S.A.W., an AHA Beginning Grant in Aid to M.D., and an RO1-NIH-NIDDK grant to H.A.I.
M.B.L. and L.A.L. contributed equally to this work. ![]()
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