SDP1 is a peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2 co-activator that binds through its SCAN domain

Peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, play an important role in the regulation of lipid metabolism and energy homoeostasis. In a yeast two-hybrid experiment using the zinc-finger transcription factor ZNF202 as bait, we previously identified the SCAN-domain-containing protein SDP1. SDP1 shares a high degree of amino acid sequence identity with PGC-2, a previously identified PPAR gamma 2 co-activator from the mouse. Here we show that SDP1 and PGC-2 interact with PPAR gamma 2 through their SCAN domains, even though PPAR gamma 2 does not contain a SCAN domain. Similar to PGC-2, SDP1 enhanced PPAR gamma 2-dependent gene transcription in transiently transfected cells but did not alter the affinity of PPAR gamma 2 for agonists. Although the SCAN domain was necessary for binding to PPAR gamma 2, it was not sufficient for co-activation in cells, suggesting that other features of SDP1 are responsible for transcriptional co-activation. The ability of SDP1 to interact with two different transcription factors that regulate genes involved in lipid metabolism, ZNF202 and PPAR gamma 2, suggests that SDP1 may be an important co-regulator of such genes.