Ligand-activated pregnane X receptor interferes with HNF-4 signaling by targeting a common coactivator PGC-1alpha. Functional implications in hepatic cholesterol and glucose metabolism.

Previous studies show that feedback inhibition of bile acid production by bile acids is mediated by multiple mechanisms, including activation of pregnane X receptor (PXR). Consistent with these studies, the antibiotic rifampicin, a ligand for human PXR, reduces hepatic bile acid levels in cholestasis patients. To delineate the mechanisms underlying PXR-mediated suppression of bile acid biosynthesis, we examined the functional cross-talk between human PXR and HNF-4, a key hepatic activator of genes involved in bile acid biosynthesis including the cholesterol 7-alpha hydroxylase (CYP7A1) and sterol 12-alpha hydroxylase (CYP8B1) genes. Treatment with rifampicin resulted in repression of endogenous human CYP7A1 expression in HepG2 cells that was reversed by PXR small interfering RNA. The coactivator PGC-1 enhanced transcriptional activity of HNF-4, and this enhancement was suppressed by rifampicin-activated PXR. Endogenous PGC-1 from mouse liver extracts bound to PXR, and recombinant PGC-1 directly interacted with both PXR and HNF-4 in vitro. Rifampicin-dependent interaction of PXR with PGC-1 was shown in cells by coimmunoprecipitation, and intranuclear localization studies using confocal microscopy provided further evidence for this interaction. In chromatin immunoprecipitation studies, rifampicin treatment did not inhibit HNF-4 binding to the native promoters of CYP7A1 and CYP8B1 but resulted in dissociation of PGC-1 and concomitant gene repression. Most interestingly, these rifampicin effects were also observed in the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene that contains a functional HNF-4-binding site and is central to hepatic gluconeogenesis. Our study suggests that ligand-activated PXR interferes with HNF-4 signaling by targeting the common coactivator PGC-1, which underlies physiologically relevant inhibitory cross-talk between drug metabolism and cholesterol/glucose metabolism.