Peptidyl-Prolyl Isomerase 1 (Pin1) Serves as a Coactivator of Steroid Receptor by Regulating the Activity of Phosphorylated Steroid Receptor Coactivator 3 (SRC-3/AIB1)

Abstract

Steroid receptor coactivator 3 (SRC-3/AIB1) interacts with steroid receptors in a ligand-dependent manner to activate receptor-mediated transcription. A number of intracellular signaling pathways initiated by growth factors and hormones induce phosphorylation of SRC-3, regulating its function and contributing to its oncogenic potential. However, the range of mechanisms by which phosphorylation affects coactivator function remains largely undefined. We demonstrate here that peptidyl-prolyl isomerase 1 (Pin1), which catalyzes the isomerization of phosphorylated Ser/Thr-Pro peptide bonds to induce conformational changes of its target proteins, interacts selectively with phosphorylated SRC-3. In addition, Pin1 and SRC-3 activate nuclear-receptor-regulated transcription synergistically. Depletion of Pin1 by small interfering RNA (siRNA) reduces hormone-dependent transcription from both transfected reporters and an endogenous steroid receptor target gene. We present evidence that Pin1 modulates interactions between SRC-3 and CBP/p300. The interaction is enhanced in vitro and in vivo by Pin1 and diminished when cellular Pin1 is reduced by siRNA or in stable Pin1-depleted cell lines. Depletion of Pin1 in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells reduces the endogenous estrogen-dependent recruitment of p300 to the promoters of estrogen receptor-dependent genes. Pin1 overexpression enhanced SRC-3 cellular turnover, and depletion of Pin1 stabilized SRC-3. Our results suggest that Pin1 functions as a transcriptional coactivator of nuclear receptors by modulating SRC-3 coactivator protein-protein complex formation and ultimately by also promoting the turnover of the activated SRC-3 oncoprotein.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Barbara Sanborn, Tse Hua Tan, Michael Greenberg, Carolyn Smith, and Hongwu Chen for kindly providing the PKA catalytic subunit, c-Jun, c-Fos, CREB, VP16-CBP, and SRC-3AAA expression vectors.

This work is supported by NIH grants (HD08818 and HD07857) (to B.W.O.), NIDDK NURSA program (to B.W.O.), CA grant (CA082845) (to A.R.M.), and a postdoctoral fellowship from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (W81XWH-04-1-0552) (to P.Y.).