Ubiquitin (UbC) expression in muscle cells is increased by glucocorticoids through a mechanism involving Sp1 and MEK1.

The muscle protein catabolism present in rats with insulin-dependent diabetes and other catabolic conditions is generally associated with increased glucocorticoid production and mRNAs encoding components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. The mechanisms that increase ubiquitin (UbC) expression have not been identified. We studied the regulation of UbC expression in L6 muscle cells because dexamethasone stimulates the transcription of this gene and others encoding components of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Results of in vivo genomic DNA footprinting experiments indicate that a protein(s) binds to Sp1 sites approximately 50 bp upstream from the UbC transcription start site; dexamethasone changes the methylation pattern at these sites. Sp1 binds to DNA probes corresponding to the rat or human UbC promoter, and treating cells with dexamethasone increases this binding. Deletion and mutation analyses of the rat and human UbC promoters are consistent with an important role of Sp1 in UbC induction by glucocorticoids. Dexamethasone-induced ubiquitin expression is blocked by mithramycin, an inhibitor of Sp1 binding. UO126, a pharmacologic inhibitor of MEK1, also blocks UbC transcriptional activation by dexamethasone; L6 cells transfected to express constitutively active MEK1 exhibit increased UbC promoter activity. Thus, glucocorticoids increase UbC expression in muscle cells by a novel transcriptional mechanism involving Sp1 and MEK1.