Nuclear receptors CAR and PXR cross talk with FOXO1 to regulate genes that encode drug-metabolizing and gluconeogenic enzymes

Mol Cell Biol. 2004 Sep;24(18):7931-40. doi: 10.1128/MCB.24.18.7931-7940.2004.

Abstract

The nuclear receptors CAR and PXR activate hepatic genes in response to therapeutic drugs and xenobiotics, leading to the induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes, such as cytochrome P450. Insulin inhibits the ability of FOXO1 to express genes encoding gluconeogenic enzymes. Induction by drugs is known to be decreased by insulin, whereas gluconeogenic activity is often repressed by treatment with certain drugs, such as phenobarbital (PB). Performing cell-based transfection assays with drug-responsive and insulin-responsive enhancers, glutathione S-transferase pull down, RNA interference (RNAi), and mouse primary hepatocytes, we examined the molecular mechanism by which nuclear receptors and FOXO1 could coordinately regulate both enzyme pathways. FOXO1 was found to be a coactivator to CAR- and PXR-mediated transcription. In contrast, CAR and PXR, acting as corepressors, downregulated FOXO1-mediated transcription in the presence of their activators, such as 1,4-bis[2-(3,5-dichloropyridyloxy)]benzene (TCPOBOP) and pregnenolone 16alpha-carbonitrile, respectively. A constitutively active mutant of the insulin-responsive protein kinase Akt, but not the kinase-negative mutant, effectively blocked FOXO1 activity in cell-based assays. Thus, insulin could repress the receptors by activating the Akt-FOXO1 signal, whereas drugs could interfere with FOXO1-mediated transcription by activating CAR and/or PXR. Treatment with TCPOBOP or PB decreased the levels of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 mRNA in mice but not in Car(-/-) mice. We conclude that FOXO1 and the nuclear receptors reciprocally coregulate their target genes, modulating both drug metabolism and gluconeogenesis.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Coxsackie and Adenovirus Receptor-Like Membrane Protein
  • Forkhead Box Protein O1
  • Forkhead Transcription Factors
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gluconeogenesis
  • Humans
  • Liver / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C3H
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mutation
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / metabolism
  • Pregnane X Receptor
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / genetics
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • Receptor Cross-Talk
  • Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / genetics
  • Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Steroid / genetics
  • Receptors, Steroid / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Virus / genetics
  • Receptors, Virus / metabolism*
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Repressor Proteins / genetics
  • Repressor Proteins / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*
  • Two-Hybrid System Techniques

Substances

  • CLMP protein, human
  • CLMP protein, mouse
  • Coxsackie and Adenovirus Receptor-Like Membrane Protein
  • Forkhead Box Protein O1
  • Forkhead Transcription Factors
  • Foxo1 protein, mouse
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations
  • Pregnane X Receptor
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear
  • Receptors, Steroid
  • Receptors, Virus
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Repressor Proteins
  • Transcription Factors
  • AKT1 protein, human
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt