Modulation of the agonist activity of antisteroids by a novel cis-acting element

The amount of agonist activity displayed by the antiglucocorticoid dexamethasone mesylate (Dex-Mes) for the induction of tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) in rat hepatoma cells is greater than for glutamine synthetase and varies over a period of weeks. This variation, which has been reproduced over a period of 40 h by changing the density of the cells, suggests the involvement of a trans-acting factor. The target of this proposed trans-acting factor has now been localized to the region between -3.9 to -2.9 of the rat TAT gene from experiments with cells that were stably transfected with hybrid TAT/CAT constructs. Deletion experiments with transiently transfected TAT/tk promoter/CAT constructs revealed that this entire activity could be conveyed by a 21 bp sequence of the TAT gene. Gel shift experiments support the binding of a factor(s) to this 21 bp sequence. Thus the activity of the antagonist Dex-Mes is relatively independent of steroid structure and is largely determined by the further interactions of a trans-acting factor with the cis-acting sequence. We call this novel sequence a glucocorticoid modulatory element. A model is advanced which accounts for almost all of the results concerning TAT induction by glucocorticoids. This same model may also be useful in explaining why the amount of agonist activity of most antisteroids varies, even for different genes within the same cell.