The role of NeuroD1 in the upregulation of SMYD3 by HBx.

Abstract

183 Background: SET and MYND Domain-Containing Protein 3 (SMYD3) is frequently overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exhibiting increased malignant phenotypes. It has also been known that the hepatitis B virus x protein (HBx) is strongly associated with HCC development and progression. Although overexpression of both proteins is related to HCC, the relationship between the two has not been well studied. Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of HBx and SMYD3 in HCC tumor tissues. HBx gene transfection, RNAi, and histone methyltransferase(H3-K4) activity assay were performed to reveal the transcrpitionally activation of HBx on functional SMYD3 gene expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) were applied to investigate the underlying mechanism. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to search for the HBx responsive cis-element of SMYD3 gene. Results: Immunohistochemistry identified the positive correlation between HBx and SMYD3 expression in 42 HCC tissues. Up-regulation of HBx on SMYD3 expression was validated through experiments involving overexpression or knock-down of HBx in different HCC cell lines. And up-regulated SMYD3 is functionally active as histone methyltransferase. Next we found that HBx transcriptionally regulated SMYD3 gene expression by interacting with RNA polymerase IIand altering its binding site to a proximal promoter region(SD2) from a distant promoter region(SD6) of SMYD3. Truncated and mutant reporter assays revealed that the cis-element mapped in -178~-203bp in SMYD3 promotor is responsive for HBx-transactivation. And this 25bp cis-element contains a E-box 3 unit, which is a binding site for the transcriptional factor Neurogenic differentiation 1(NeuroD1). EMSA and Chip showed that HBx increased NeuroD1 binding to SMYD3 proximal promotor, however transcient expression of antisense NeuroD1 abolished HBx-induced SMYD3 expression. Conclusions: HBx transcriptionally up-regulates SMYD3 and that this process is mediated by NeuroD1 through binding to the E-box 3 site of SMYD3 promotor.