Glucocorticoids antagonize cAMP-induced Star transcription in Leydig cells through the orphan nuclear receptor NR4A1

It is well established that stress, either physical or psychosocial, causes a decrease in testosterone production by Leydig cells. Glucocorticoids (Gc) are the main mediators of stress response and they convey their repressive effect on Leydig cells through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). So far, various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the mechanism of action of Gc on Leydig cell steroidogenesis including repression of genes involved in testosterone biosynthesis. Several steroidogenic genes, including steroidogenic acute regulatory (STAR) protein, have been shown to be repressed by Gc in a GR-dependent manner but the underlying mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we found that dexamethasone (Dex), a potent synthetic Gc, partly antagonizes the cAMP-dependent stimulation of the mouse Star promoter in MA-10 Leydig cells as revealed by transient transfection assays. This repression requires an element located at -95 bp previously implicated in the activation of the Star promoter by the nuclear receptors, NR4A1 and NR5A1. Dex was found to inhibit NR4A1-dependent transactivation of the Star promoter in Leydig cells by decreasing NR4A1, but not NR5A1, recruitment to the proximal Star promoter as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. Western blots revealed that Dex did not affect NR4A1 or NR5A1 expression in response to cAMP. These data suggest that NR4A1 would be associated with the GR in a transcriptionally inactive complex as previously demonstrated in pituitary corticotrope cells. Thus, our data provide new molecular insights into the stress-mediated suppression of testosterone production in testicular Leydig cells.