Selective Activation of Estrogen Receptor-β Transcriptional Pathways by an Herbal Extract

Novel estrogenic therapies are needed that ameliorate menopausal symptoms and have the bone-sparing effects of endogenous estrogens but do not promote breast or uterine cancer. Recent evidence suggests that selective activation of the estrogen receptor (ER)-beta subtype inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation. To establish whether ERbeta-selective ligands represent a viable approach to improve hormone therapy, we investigated whether the estrogenic activities present in an herbal extract, MF101, used to treat hot flashes, are ERbeta selective. MF101 promoted ERbeta, but not ERalpha, activation of an estrogen response element upstream of the luciferase reporter gene. MF101 also selectively regulates transcription of endogenous genes through ERbeta. The ERbeta selectivity was not due to differential binding because MF101 binds equally to ERalpha and ERbeta. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer and protease digestion studies showed that MF101 produces a different conformation in ERalpha from ERbeta when compared with the conformations produced by estradiol. The specific conformational change induced by MF101 allows ERbeta to bind to an estrogen response element and recruit coregulatory proteins that are required for gene activation. MF101 did not activate the ERalpha-regulated proliferative genes, c-myc and cyclin D1, or stimulate MCF-7 breast cancer cell proliferation or tumor formation in a mouse xenograft model. Our results demonstrate that herbal ERbeta-selective estrogens may be a safer alternative for hormone therapy than estrogens that nonselectively activate both ER subtypes

Drug and Cell Type-Specific Regulation of Genes with Different Classes of Estrogen Receptor β-Selective Agonists

Estrogens produce biological effects by interacting with two estrogen receptors, ERα and ERβ. Drugs that selectively target ERα or ERβ might be safer for conditions that have been traditionally treated with non-selective estrogens. Several synthetic and natural ERβ-selective compounds have been identified. One class of ERβ-selective agonists is represented by ERB-041 (WAY-202041) which binds to ERβ much greater than ERα. A second class of ERβ-selective agonists derived from plants include MF101, nyasol and liquiritigenin that bind similarly to both ERs, but only activate transcription with ERβ. Diarylpropionitrile represents a third class of ERβ-selective compounds because its selectivity is due to a combination of greater binding to ERβ and transcriptional activity. However, it is unclear if these three classes of ERβ-selective compounds produce similar biological activities. The goals of these studies were to determine the relative ERβ selectivity and pattern of gene expression of these three classes of ERβ-selective compounds compared to estradiol (E2), which is a non-selective ER agonist. U2OS cells stably transfected with ERα or ERβ were treated with E2 or the ERβ-selective compounds for 6 h. Microarray data demonstrated that ERB-041, MF101 and liquiritigenin were the most ERβ-selective agonists compared to estradiol, followed by nyasol and then diarylpropionitrile. FRET analysis showed that all compounds induced a similar conformation of ERβ, which is consistent with the finding that most genes regulated by the ERβ-selective compounds were similar to each other and E2. However, there were some classes of genes differentially regulated by the ERβ agonists and E2. Two ERβ-selective compounds, MF101 and liquiritigenin had cell type-specific effects as they regulated different genes in HeLa, Caco-2 and Ishikawa cell lines expressing ERβ. Our gene profiling studies demonstrate that while most of the genes were commonly regulated by ERβ-selective agonists and E2, there were some genes regulated that were distinct from each other and E2, suggesting that different ERβ-selective agonists might produce distinct biological and clinical effects

Protein Disulfide Isomerase Modulates the Activation of Thyroid Hormone Receptors

Thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) are responsible for mediating thyroid hormone (T3 and T4) actions at a cellular level. They belong to the nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily and execute their main functions inside the cell nuclei as hormone-regulated transcription factors. These receptors also exhibit so-called “non-classic” actions, for which other cellular proteins, apart from coregulators inside nuclei, regulate their activity. Aiming to find alternative pathways of TR modulation, we searched for interacting proteins and found that PDIA1 interacts with TRβ in a yeast two-hybrid screening assay. The functional implications of PDIA1—TR interactions are still unclear; however, our co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) and fluorescence assay results showed that PDI was able to bind both TR isoforms in vitro. Moreover, T3 appears to have no important role in these interactions in cellular assays, where PDIA1 was able to regulate transcription of TRα and TRβ-mediated genes in different ways depending on the promoter region and on the TR isoform involved. Although PDIA1 appears to act as a coregulator, it binds to a TR surface that does not interfere with coactivator binding. However, the TR:PDIA1 complex affinity and activation are different depending on the TR isoform. Such differences may reflect the structural organization of the PDIA1:TR complex, as shown by models depicting an interaction interface with exposed cysteines from both proteins, suggesting that PDIA1 might modulate TR by its thiol reductase/isomerase activity

Medium Chain Fatty Acids Are Selective Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor (PPAR) γ Activators and Pan-PPAR Partial Agonists

Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) act through peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) γ to increase insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes (T2DM), but deleterious effects of these ligands mean that selective modulators with improved clinical profiles are needed. We obtained a crystal structure of PPARγ ligand binding domain (LBD) and found that the ligand binding pocket (LBP) is occupied by bacterial medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). We verified that MCFAs (C8–C10) bind the PPARγ LBD in vitro and showed that they are low-potency partial agonists that display assay-specific actions relative to TZDs; they act as very weak partial agonists in transfections with PPARγ LBD, stronger partial agonists with full length PPARγ and exhibit full blockade of PPARγ phosphorylation by cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (cdk5), linked to reversal of adipose tissue insulin resistance. MCFAs that bind PPARγ also antagonize TZD-dependent adipogenesis in vitro. X-ray structure B-factor analysis and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggest that MCFAs weakly stabilize C-terminal activation helix (H) 12 relative to TZDs and this effect is highly dependent on chain length. By contrast, MCFAs preferentially stabilize the H2-H3/β-sheet region and the helix (H) 11-H12 loop relative to TZDs and we propose that MCFA assay-specific actions are linked to their unique binding mode and suggest that it may be possible to identify selective PPARγ modulators with useful clinical profiles among natural products

ACOX-driven peroxisomal heterogeneity and functional compartmentalization in brown adipocytes of hypothyroid rats

We previously demonstrated that hypothyroidism increases peroxisomal biogenesis in rat brown adipose tissue (BAT). We also showed heterogeneity in peroxisomal origin and their unique structural association with mitochondria and/or lipid bodies to carry out β-oxidation, contributing thus to BAT thermogenesis. Distinctive heterogeneity creates structural compartmentalization within peroxisomal population, raising the question of whether it is followed by their functional compartmentalization regarding localization/colocalization of two main acyl-CoA oxidase (ACOX) isoforms, ACOX1 and ACOX3. ACOX is the first and rate-limiting enzyme of peroxisomal β-oxidation, and, to date, their protein expression patterns in BAT have not been fully defined. Therefore, we used methimazole-induced hypothyroidism to study ACOX1 and ACOX3 protein expression and their tissue immunolocalization. Additionally, we analysed their specific peroxisomal localization and colocalization in parallel with peroxisomal structural compartmentalization in brown adipocytes. Hypothyroidism caused a linear increase in ACOX1 expression, while a temporary decrease in ACOX3 levels is only recovered to the control level at day 21. Peroxisomal ACOX1 and ACOX3 localization and colocalization patterns entirely mirrored heterogeneous peroxisomal biogenesis pathways and structural compartmentalization, e.g. associations with mitochondria and/or lipid bodies. Hence, different ACOX isoforms localization/colocalization creates distinct functional heterogeneity of peroxisomes and drives their functional compartmentalization in rat brown adipocytes

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Effects of maternal obesity on Wharton's Jelly mesenchymal stromal cells

Abstract We investigated whether maternal metabolic environment affects mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) from umbilical cord’s Wharton’s Jelly (WJ) on a molecular level, and potentially render them unsuitable for clinical use in multiple recipients. In this pilot study on umbilical cords post partum from healthy non-obese (BMI = 19–25; n = 7) and obese (BMI ≥ 30; n = 7) donors undergoing elective Cesarean section, we found that WJ MSC from obese donors showed slower population doubling and a stronger immunosuppressive activity. Genome-wide DNA methylation of triple positive (CD73+CD90+CD105+) WJ MSCs found 67 genes with at least one CpG site where the methylation difference was ≥0.2 in four or more obese donors. Only one gene, PNPLA7, demonstrated significant difference on methylome, transcriptome and protein level. Although the number of analysed donors is limited, our data suggest that the altered metabolic environment related to excessive body weight might bear consequences on the WJ MSCs