👤 John P Capone

Liver X receptor is a ligand-activated transcription factor, which is mainly involved in cholesterol homeostasis, bile acid and triglycerides metabolism, and, as recently discovered, in the glucose metabolism by direct regulation of liver glucokinase. Its modulation by exogenous factors, such as drugs, industrial by-products, and chemicals is documented. Owing to the abundance of these synthetic molecules in the environment, and to the established target role of this receptor, a number of representative compounds of phthalate, organophosphate and fibrate classes were tested as ligands/modulators of human liver X receptor, using an integrated approach, combining an in silico molecular docking technique with an optical SPR biosensor binding study. The compounds of interest were predicted and proved to target the oxysterols-binding site of human LXRα with measurable binding kinetic constants and with affinities ranging between 4.3 × 10(-7) and 4.3 × 10(-8)M. Additionally, non-cytotoxic concentration of these chemicals induced relevant changes in the LXRα gene expression levels and other target genes (SREBP-1c and LGK) in human liver hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2), as demonstrated by q-RT-PCR. Show less

Liver X receptor alpha (LXRalpha), an oxysterol-activated nuclear hormone receptor, regulates the expression of genes involved in lipid and cholesterol homeostasis and inflammation. We show here that transactivation by LXRalpha in monkey kidney COS-1 (Cos-1) cells is decreased by activation of the protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathway. In transient co-transfection assays, phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) suppressed LXR-dependent transactivation of LXR-responsive reporter genes or the natural promoter of the human ATP-binding cassette (ABC), ABCA1 gene. The decrease in LXR transactivation after PMA treatment was also observed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells. Moreover, endogenous LXR target genes, ABCA1 and sterol response element-binding protein-1c, were also decreased by PMA treatment in HEK293 cells as assessed by real-time PCR. The PMA-mediated decrease of LXR activity was blocked by the PKC inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide and mimicked by constitutively active PKCalpha. Nuclear extracts treated with PMA show no decrease in LXRalpha DNA binding as assessed by mobility shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Additionally, in vitro kinase assays demonstrate that PKCalpha can phosphorylate LXRalpha. Our findings reveal a mode of regulation of LXRalpha that may be relevant to disease conditions where aberrant PKC signaling is observed, such as diabetes. Show less