Sex-specific, growth hormone-regulated transcription of the cytochrome P450 2C11 and 2C12 genes.

Growth hormone (GH) differentially regulates the expression of several male-specific and female-specific liver cytochrome P450 mRNAs as a function of its sex-dependent ultradian secretory pattern. Pulsatile GH release stimulates expression of the male-specific P450 2C11, while a continuous GH secretion pattern suppresses expression of 2C11 and stimulates the expression of the female-specific P450 2C12. To help define the level at which GH regulates the expression of 2C11 and 2C12 mRNA, liver nuclear RNA samples isolated from rats differing in GH status were analyzed for 2C11 and 2C12 hnRNAs by hybridization to 2C11 and 2C12 gene-specific exonic oligonucleotide probes, as well as exon/intron junction probes. The 2C11 and 2C12 hnRNAs were found to be responsive to circulating GH profiles in a manner indistinguishable from the corresponding mature, cytoplasmic mRNAs, with no 2C12 mRNA precursors found in untreated male or hypophysectomized female liver nuclei, and no 2C11 mRNA precursors in untreated female or hypophysectomized male liver nuclei. Thus, transport of 2C11 and 2C12 RNA to the cytoplasm and cytoplasmic mRNA stability are unlikely to be important GH-regulated control points for sex-specific P450 RNA expression. Run-on transcription analysis further established that GH regulates the sex-specific expression of the 2C11 and 2C12 genes at the level of transcript initiation. Transcription was also shown to be the major step for regulation of the male-specific P450 2A2 RNA, whose expression, unlike 2C11, is not obligatorily dependent on pulsatile GH release. In vitro footprinting analysis of 2C11 and 2C12 promoter fragments incubated with liver nuclear proteins isolated from rats differing in GH status revealed several sex- and GH-dependent differences in DNase cleavage patterns ("hypersensitivity sites"), demonstrating that GH can regulate specific protein-DNA interactions in the 5'-flanking sequences of these two genes. In vitro transcription assays driven by 2C11 and 2C12 5'-flanking DNA sequences fused to TATAA box-G-less cassette template constructs did not, however, faithfully mimic the sex-specific transcription of the 2C11 and 2C12 genes, indicating that additional cis-elements or trans-acting factors may be required to achieve the transcriptional regulation of these genes that occurs in vivo.