3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase: three dimensional structure and gene regulation.

Mammalian 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (3 alpha-HSDs) regulate steroid hormone levels. cDNA cloning indicates that the rat and human liver isoforms display high sequence identity and that they belong to the aldo-keto reductase (AKR) superfamily. Of these the most extensively characterized is rat liver 3 alpha-HSD. The recently solved X-ray crystal structure shows that this enzyme adopts an (alpha/beta)8-barrel scaffold (Hoog et al. 1994). NAD(P)H binds in an extended anti-conformation and lies along the inner surface of the barrel. The nicotinamide ring is stabilized by interaction with Y216. The 4-pro(R)-hydrogen transferred in the reaction is in close proximity to Y55. K84, D50 and H117 which are implicated in catalysis. These residues are located at the base of a hydrophobic pocket which is presumed to be involved in binding steroid hormone. This catalytic tetrad is conserved in members of the AKR superfamily. Mutant enzymes support roles for Y55 in steroid binding and for K84 as the general acid involved in catalysis. The gene for rat 3 alpha-HSD has been cloned and is 47 kb in length and contains 9 exon-intron boundaries which are highly conserved in the human gene(s). The 5'-flanking regions of the rat and human genes contain consensus sequences for AP-1, Oct-1 and multiple copies of perfect and imperfect steroid hormone response elements (REs) (estrogen, glucocorticoid (GRE), and progesterone) which may comprise a steroid response unit (SRU) (Lin & Penning 1995). Constitutive and regulated expression of the rat 3 alpha-HSD gene has been studied by transiently transfecting reporter gene (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, CAT) constructs into human hepatoma (HepG2) cells. With respect to the transcription start-site (+1), a proximal (-498 to -199bp) and distal (-20 to -4.0kb) enhancer, as well as a powerful silencer (-755 to -498 bp) were located in the promoter. Band-shift and supershift assays provide evidence that Oct-1 binds to the silencer. Tandem repeats of the imperfect proximal and distal GREs that reside in the SRU were inserted into tk-CAT vectors and transiently transfected. Stimulation of transfected cells with dexamethasone resulted in robust CAT activity. These data indicate that glucocorticoids may positively regulate transcription of the rat 3 alpha-HSD gene from the SRU.