Thyroid hormone and dietary carbohydrate interact to regulate rat liver S14 gene transcription and chromatin structure.

Dietary carbohydrate and thyroid hormone (T3) interact to regulate rat liver S14 gene expression. The molecular basis for this interaction was examined by analysis of hepatic mRNAS14 levels, S14 gene transcription, and chromatin structure. While starvation of euthyroid rats inhibited hepatic S14 gene transcription greater than or equal to 90%, sucrose administration induced mRNAS14 and S14 transcription to 82% of euthyroid-fed levels within 4 h. In contrast, administration of sucrose or T3 to starved hypothyroid animals restored S14 gene transcription to only 30% of euthyroid-fed values. Both T3 and sucrose were required to restore S14 run-on activity and mRNAS14 to euthyroid-fed levels within 4 h. Thus, T3 and sucrose interact synergistically and rapidly to induce S14 gene transcription. Analysis of S14 chromatin structure showed that starvation of hypothyroid rats inhibited the formation of three DNase I-hypersensitive sites flanking the 5'-end of the S14 gene (Hss-1 at -65 to -265 base pairs; Hss-2 at -1.2 kilobases and Hss-3 at -2.67 kilobases). The loss of these sites correlated with the repression of S14 gene transcription in starved hypothyroid rats. Whereas administration of sucrose to starved hypothyroid rats consistently induced the Hss-1 and Hss-2 sites, T3 consistently induced all three DNase I-hypersensitive sites. Yet, neither treatment alone induced S14 gene transcription to euthyroid levels. The combination of T3 and sucrose induced no additional change in S14 chromatin structure over that induced by T3 alone. Thus, regulation of S14 chromatin structure alone is not the sole mechanism by which these stimuli regulate S14 gene transcription. We speculate that the synergistic regulation of S14 gene transcription by T3 and dietary carbohydrate involves a complex interaction between factors which regulate the accessibility of putative cis-regulatory elements through changes in chromatin structure and the regulation of "transcription factors" which interact with these elements.