Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor mediates cross-talk with thyroid hormone receptor by competition for retinoid X receptor. Possible role of a leucine zipper-like heptad repeat.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) and thyroid hormone receptors (TR) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily, which regulate lipid metabolism and tissue differentiation. In order to bind to DNA and activate transcription, PPAR requires the formation of heterodimers with the retinoid X receptor (RXR). In addition to activating transcription through its own response elements, PPAR is able to selectively down-regulate the transcriptional activity of TR, but not vitamin D receptor. The molecular basis of this functional interaction has not been fully elucidated. By means of site-directed mutagenesis of hPPAR alpha we mapped its inhibitory action on TR to a leucine zipper-like motif in the ligand binding domain of PPAR, which is highly conserved among all subtypes of this receptor and mediates heterodimerization with RXR. Replacement of a single leucine by arginine at position 433 of hPPAR alpha (L433R) abolished heterodimerization of PPAR with RXR and consequently its trans-activating capacity. However, a similar mutation of a leucine residue to arginine at position 422 showed no alteration of heterodimerization, DNA binding, or transcriptional activation. The dimerization deficient mutant L433R was no longer able to inhibit TR action, demonstrating that the selective inhibitory effect of PPAR results from the competition for RXR as well as possibly for other TR-auxiliary proteins. In contrast, abolition of DNA binding by a mutation in the P-box of PPAR (C122S) did not eliminate the inhibition of TR trans-activation, indicating that competition for DNA binding is not involved. Additionally, no evidence for the formation of PPAR:TR heterodimers was found in co-immunoprecipitation experiments. In summary, we have demonstrated that PPAR selectively inhibits the transcriptional activity of TRs by competition for RXR and possibly non-RXR TR-auxiliary proteins. In contrast, this functional interaction is independent of the formation of PPAR:TR heterodimers or competition for DNA binding

Thyroid hormone receptor β mutants: Dominant negative regulators of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ action

Thyroid hormone (T3) and peroxisome proliferators have overlapping metabolic effects in the maintenance of lipid homeostasis. Their actions are mediated by their respective receptors: thyroid hormone receptors (TR) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR). We recently found that a dominantly negative TRβ mutant (PV) that causes a genetic disease, resistance to thyroid hormone, acts to repress the ligand (troglitazone)-mediated transcriptional activity of PPARγ in cultured thyroid cells. This finding suggests that TRβ mutants could crosstalk with PPARγ-signaling pathways. The present study explored the molecular mechanisms by which PV represses the PPARγ transcriptional activity. Gel-shift assays show that the PV, similar to wild-type TRβ, bound to the peroxisome proliferator response element (PPRE) as homodimers and heterodimers with PPARγ or the retinoid X receptor (RXR), thereby competing with PPARγ for binding to PPRE and for sequestering RXR. Association of PPRE-bound PV with corepressors [e.g., nuclear receptor corepressor (NCoR)] that led to transcriptional repression was independent of T3 and troglitazone. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay further demonstrated that, despite the presence of ligands, NCoR was recruited to PPRE-bound PV on a PPARγ-target gene, the lipoprotein lipase, in vivo, suggesting the dominant action of PV on PPARγ-mediated transcriptional activity. Thus, the dominant negative action of PV is not limited on the wild-type TRs. The findings that TRβ mutants affect PPARγ functions through dominant negative action provide insights into the molecular mechanisms by which TR regulates the PPARγ-target genes involved in metabolic pathways, lipid homeostasis, and carcinogenesis