Transcriptional repression of apolipoprotein AI gene expression by orphan receptor ARP-1

Expression of the apolipoprotein AI (apoAI) gene in the liver is controlled by a liver-specific enhancer. The function of this enhancer depends on synergistic interactions between transcription factors bound to at least three sites (designated A, B, and C) located within this enhancer. We have previously shown that an apoAI gene reporter construct containing the entire enhancer is expressed efficiently in a hepatoma cell line and that its activity is repressed by the orphan receptor ARP-1. Moreover, repression by ARP-1 is overcome by the retinoid X receptor RXR alpha in the presence of retinoic acid. In this study, we show that ARP-1 represses the apoAI promoter by binding to site A of the apoAI liver-specific enhancer, the repression being a promoter context-specific event. Mapping analysis of ARP-1 indicated that its DNA binding domain is essential but not sufficient for repression. Two separate repression domains located at the amino- and carboxyl-terminal halves of ARP-1 were found to individually complement the DNA binding domain for efficient repression. We also demonstrate the reversibility of ARP-1 repression by transcription factors C/EBP and Egr-1, which might also be involved in apoAI gene expression. Significantly, repression by ARP-1 was found to be a prerequisite for C/EBP-mediated transactivation. We interpret our results in terms of a model in which ARP-1 repression via its interaction with site A is an obligatory intermediate step in switching from one activated state of the apoAI gene to another.