A pleiotropic element in the medium-chain acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase gene promoter mediates transcriptional regulation by multiple nuclear receptor transcription factors and defines novel receptor-DNA binding motifs.

We previously identified a complex regulatory element in the medium-chain acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase gene promoter that confers transcriptional regulation by the retinoid receptors RAR and RXR and the orphan nuclear receptor HNF-4. In this study we demonstrate a trans-repressing regulatory function for the orphan receptor COUP-TF at this same nuclear receptor response element (NRRE-1). The transcriptional regulatory properties and receptor binding sequences of each nuclear receptor response element within NRRE-1 are also characterized. NRRE-1 consists of four potential nuclear hormone receptor hexamer binding sites, arranged as [<--1-(n)s-2-->-3-->(n)4<--4], three of which are used in alternative pairwise binding by COUP-TF and HNF-4 homodimers and by RAR-RXR heterodimers, as demonstrated by mobility shift assays and methylation interference analysis. Binding and transactivation studies with mutant NRRE-1 elements confirmed the existence of distinct retinoid, COUP-TF, and HNF-4 response elements that define novel receptor binding motifs: COUP-TF homodimers bound sites 1 and 3 (two hexamer repeat sequences arranged as an everted imperfect repeat separated by 14 bp or ER14), RAR-RXR heterodimers bound sites 1 and 2 (ER8), and HNF-4 homodimers bound sites 2 and 3 (imperfect DR0). Mixing cotransfection experiments demonstrated that the nuclear receptor dimers compete at NRRE-1 to modulate constitutive and ligand-mediated transcriptional activity. These data suggest a mechanism for the transcriptional modulation of genes encoding enzymes involved in cellular metabolism.