Transcriptional regulation of the apolipoprotein A-IV gene involves synergism between a proximal orphan receptor response element and a distant enhancer located in the upstream promoter region of the apolipoprotein C-III gene.

Apolipoprotein A-IV expression is limited to intestinal and hepatic cells, suggesting a tissue specific transcriptional regulation of its gene. To investigate the mechanism controlling apo A-IV transcription we have analysed its promoter region by in vitro DNA binding and transient transfection experiments. DNase I footprinting analysis of the proximal promoter with rat liver nuclear extracts revealed four protected regions: AIVA (-32 to -22), AIVB (-84 to -42), AIVC (-148 to -92) and AIVD (-274 to -250). Element AIVC which is necessary for maximal promoter activity, binds HNF-4, Arp-1 and Ear-3 with similar affinity in a mutually exclusive manner. HNF-4 transactivated chimeric constructs containing intact AIVC site in the context of either the apo A-IV promoter or the heterologous thymidine kinase minimal promoter, while Arp-1 and Ear-3 repressed this activation. Increasing amounts of HNF-4 alleviated Arp-1 or Ear-3 mediated repression, suggesting that the observed opposing effects is a result of direct competition of these factors for the same recognition site. In transient transfection assays the apo A-IV promoter region (-700 to +10) had a very low activity in cells of hepatic (HepG2) and intestinal (CaCo2) origin. This activity was increased 13 to 18-fold when the upstream elements of the distantly linked apo C-III gene were fused to the proximal promoter. Results obtained with different 5' and 3' deletion constructs indicated that the cis-acting elements F to J between the nucleotides -500 and -890 of the apo C-III promoter were absolutely necessary to drive maximal enhancement in HepG2 and CaCo2 cells. The apo C-III upstream elements enhanced the activity of the minimal AdML promoter or the apo A-IV site C mutant less efficiently than the intact apo A-IV or AdML promoter constructs containing single HNF-4 sites. The findings suggest that the enhancer effect is mediated by synergistic interactions between the trans-acting factors which recognize the apo C-III regulatory elements and HNF-4 which binds to the proximal apo A-IV promoter

An intrinsically disordered domain has a dual function coupled to compartment-dependent redox control

The functional role of unstructured protein domains is an emerging field in the frame of intrinsically disordered proteins. The involvement of intrinsically disordered domains (IDDs) in protein targeting and biogenesis processes in mitochondria is so far not known. Here, we have characterized the structural/dynamic and functional properties of an IDD of the sulfhydryl oxidase ALR (augmenter of liver regeneration) located in the intermembrane space of mitochondria. At variance to the unfolded-to-folded structural transition of several intrinsically disordered proteins, neither substrate recognition events nor redox switch of its shuttle cysteine pair is linked to any such structural change. However, this unstructured domain performs a dual function in two cellular compartments: it acts (i) as a mitochondrial targeting signal in the cytosol and (ii) as a crucial recognition site in the disulfide relay system of intermembrane space. This domain provides an exciting new paradigm for IDDs ensuring two distinct functions that are linked to intracellular organelle targeting

MIA40 is an oxidoreductase that catalyzes oxidative protein folding in mitochondria

MIA40 has a key role in oxidative protein folding in the mitochondrial intermembrane space. We present the solution structure of human MIA40 and its mechanism as a catalyst of oxidative folding. MIA40 has a 66-residue folded domain made of an -helical hairpin core stabilized by two structural disulfides and a rigid N-terminal lid, with a characteristic CPC motif that can donate its disulfide bond to substrates. The CPC active site is solvent-accessible and sits adjacent to a hydrophobic cleft. Its second cysteine (Cys55) is essential in vivo and is crucial for mixed disulfide formation with the substrate. The hydrophobic cleft functions as a substrate binding domain, and mutations of this domain are lethal in vivo and abrogate binding in vitro. MIA40 represents a thioredoxin-unrelated, minimal oxidoreductase, with a facile CPC redox active site that ensures its catalytic function in oxidative folding in mitochondria