Fatty acids induce L-CPT I gene expression through a PPARalpha-independent mechanism in rat hepatoma cells.

Liver carnitine palmitoyl transferase (L-CPT) I is a key regulatory enzyme of long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) oxidation that ensures the first step of LCFA import into the mitochondrial matrix. In rat hepatocytes, we showed previously that L-CPT I gene expression was induced by LCFAs as well as by fibrates. The aim of this study was to determine whether LCFA-induced L-CPT I gene expression was mediated by PPARalpha. For this purpose, we constructed a PPARalpha-dominant negative receptor to inhibit endogenous PPARalpha signaling. Highly conserved hydrophobic and charged residues (Leu459 and Glu462) in helix 12 of the ligand-binding domain were mutated to alanine. These mutations led to a total loss of transcriptional activity due to impaired coactivator recruitment. Furthermore, competition studies confirmed that the mutated PPARalpha receptor abolished the wild-type PPARalpha receptor action and thus acted as a powerful dominant negative receptor. When overexpressed in rat hepatoma cells (H4IIE) using a recombinant adenovirus, the mutated PPARalpha receptor antagonized the clofibrate-induced L-CPT I gene expression, whereas it did not affect LCFA-induced L-CPT I. These results provide the first direct demonstration that LCFAs regulate L-CPT I transcription through a PPARalpha-independent pathway, at least in hepatoma cells.