Identification of negative and positive estrogen response elements in human GnRH upstream promoter in the placental JEG-3 cells

Abstract

Results from our previous studies have demonstrated regulatory effects of estradiol on human gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) gene expression in human placental cells. The present study was designed to determine the molecular mechanisms whereby estrogens regulate the human GnRH gene expression in the placenta. The effects of estradiol on human GnRH upstream promoter activity in JEG-3 cells depends on the amounts of estrogen receptor (ER) alpha expression vector co-transfected, with the maximal effect obtained at the amount of 1.0 μg of ER expression vector cotransfected. Estriol, an isoform of estradiol, also possesses a regulatory effect on the upstream promoter activity, while estrone, another isoform, does not. Serial deletion studies revealed two estrogen responsive elements in the GnRH upstream promoter region. One element (−987 to −968 bp, E4 element) confers a negative estradiol response, while another one (−827 to −730 bp) is responsible for a positive estradiol effect. Replacement of these two elements with unrelated DNA sequences could abolish the responsiveness to estradiol treatment. Furthermore, footprinting and gel shift assays demonstrated that nuclear protein from estradiol-treated JEG-3 cells, but not from control cells, could bind to a 41 bp DNA fragment (−824 to −784 bp) within the estrogen positive responsive element. Results of gel-shift assay demonstrated that other protein(s) might also be involved in interacting the E4 element to mediate the negative effect of estradiol on the hGnRH upstream promoter activity in JEG-3 cells.