Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1993 May 1;90(9):4281-5.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.9.4281.

Efficient transactivation by retinoic acid receptors in yeast requires retinoid X receptors

D M Heery  1 , T Zacharewski, B Pierrat, H Gronemeyer, P Chambon, R Losson
Affiliations

Efficient transactivation by retinoic acid receptors in yeast requires retinoid X receptors

D M Heery et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

All-trans and 9-cis retinoic acids are natural derivatives of vitamin A that modulate gene expression as a consequence of binding to nuclear retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and retinoid X receptors (RXRs). RXRs form heterodimers with RARs in vitro, and such complexes display enhanced binding affinities for cognate DNA response elements. As yeast is devoid of endogenous RARs and RXRs, we used this organism to investigate whether transactivation in vivo requires RAR/RXR heterodimers. Using a domain-swapping approach, we demonstrate that chimeric RAR alpha 1 and RXR alpha containing the DNA-binding domain of the estrogen receptor activate transcription of a cognate reporter gene in yeast, independently of each other. These activities result from an inducible transcription activation function located in the ligand-binding domains of RAR alpha 1 and RXR alpha and a constitutive activation function located in the A/B region of RAR alpha 1. The inducible activation function of RXR alpha is induced exclusively by 9-cis-retinoic acid in this system. Transactivation of a reporter gene containing a retinoic acid response element by RAR alpha was considerably increased by RXR alpha, even in the absence of ligand. Optimal induction was achieved with 9-cis-retinoic acid, which stimulates the activity of both receptors. This study illustrates the utility of yeast to investigate signal transduction by retinoids in the absence of endogenous RARs, RXRs, and detectable retinoic acid isomerization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Gene. 1991 Sep 30;106(1):35-42 - PubMed
    1. Cell. 1991 Jul 26;66(2):199-217 - PubMed
    1. Cell. 1991 Dec 20;67(6):1251-66 - PubMed
    1. Nature. 1992 Jan 23;355(6358):359-61 - PubMed
    1. Cell. 1992 Jan 24;68(2):377-95 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms