Hormonal-regulation Of Cholesterol-7-alpha-hydroxylase Messenger-rna Levels And Transcriptional Activity In Primary Rat Hepatocyte Cultures
Creator
Hylemon P B; Gurley E C; Stravitz R T; Litz J S; Pandak W M; Chiang J Y L; Vlahcevic Z R
Publisher
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Date
1992
1992-08
Description
In primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes the level of cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase steady-state mRNA markedly decreased by 72 h. However, the addition of L-thyroxine (T4) and dexamethasone synergistically returned cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase steady-state mRNA levels near to that of cholestyramine-fed animals. The maximal responses to T4 and dexamethasone in serum-free medium were at 1.0 and 0.1-mu-M, respectively. The addition of T4 in combination with dexamethasone resulted in an 11-fold increase in transcriptional activity of the cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase gene as compared to no addition controls. The specific activities of cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase in microsomes prepared from cultures treated with dexamethasone and T4 were 1.56 +/- 1.17 nmol/h/mg protein which is similar to that of intact liver (1.70 +/- 0.062 nmol/h/mg protein), but lower than cholestyramine-fed animals. Cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase activity was not detectable (<0.020 nmol/h/mg protein) at 72 h in cultures without the addition of both dexamethasone and T4. In the presence of optimal concentrations of dexamethasone and T4, glucagon (0.2-mu-M), or dibutyryl cAMP (50-mu-M) decreased (90%) cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase mRNA within 6 h. Transcriptional activity decreased (62%) in 6 h following the addition of glucagon (0.2-mu-M) to the culture medium. The results reported in this paper suggest an important role for multiple hormones in the regulation of cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase in the liver.