Insulin enhances glucocorticoid receptor-mediated induction of gene expression independent of a specific insulin response element.

We have established a system in which we observe a synergistic interaction between insulin and glucocorticoids. This includes chimeric genes constructed to contain synthetic glucocorticoid-responsive elements, 5' of the HSV thymidine kinase promoter and the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene. The magnitude of induction of gene expression by glucocorticoid was dependent on the number of GREs. Insulin alone had virtually no effect on the expression of any of these genes but together with dexamethasone acted in a synergistic manner. This synergy diminished as the number of GREs in the promoter increased. The synergy is independent of promoter sequences other than the GREs and a functional TATAA box. Three different approaches demonstrate that the effect of insulin is not directly on the glucocorticoid signal transduction pathway. Insulin does not change the dose-response relationship for dexamethasone. The effect of insulin is independent of the intracellular concentration of glucocorticoid receptor. The effect is independent of any specific domain of the glucocorticoid receptor. The target of insulin action is likely to be part of the normal host cell transcriptional initiation complex or a putative adaptor molecule.