Binding of nuclear proteins to the rat liver S14 gene is influenced by thyroid state

The rat hepatic S14 gene is regulated by L-triiodothyronine (T3) and codes for a cytosolic protein (pI 4.9 and Mr 17,010) that is believed to be involved in lipogenesis. Recent studies have identified at least five DNase I hypersensitive sites (HS 1-5) in hepatic chromatin flanking the 5' region of the gene. The HS-1 site is situated immediately adjacent to the transcription initiation site. We have isolated a DNA fragment (USS-1) which contains a portion of the HS-1 site to examine the binding of nuclear proteins to S14 DNA. DNase I footprinting studies demonstrated that material extracted from hepatic nuclei with 0.42 M NaCl contained proteinase K-sensitive factors (presumed to be proteins), which bind to USS-1 DNA between positions -63 and -48 (PS-1) relative to the transcription initiation site. Examination of the binding activity with a synthetic oligonucleotide identical to the protected sequence indicated the formation of at least three protein-DNA complexes. The DNA binding activity of the PS-1 binding protein or proteins correlated with the T3 regulated expression of mRNA-S14. Although the nucleotide sequence of PS-1 closely resembles the binding site for the CCAAT transcription factor (CTF/NF-1), competition studies attempting to displace protein binding from the PS-1 sequence with DNA fragments containing the CTF/NF-1 binding motif were unsuccessful. In vitro transcriptional assay studies suggested that the DNA fragment (-441 to -2) containing the PS-1 site promotes the transcription of the S14 gene in an orientation fashion. The in vitro transcriptional activity of the S14 DNA containing the PS-1 sequence was significantly higher in hepatonuclear extracts from hyperthyroid compared with euthyroid or hypothyroid animals. In summary, our findings indicate that the DNA binding activity of proteins which bind to PS-1 site is influenced by the thyroid status of the animal.