Involvement of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate regulatory element binding protein (CREB) in both basal and hormone-mediated expression of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene.

Transcription of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and PEPCK-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) genes is induced by cAMP and glucocorticoids and is inhibited by insulin in H4IIE cells, as it is in liver. In contrast, PEPCK-CAT expression in HepG2 cells is not affected by insulin but is induced by cAMP, which in turn is repressed by glucocorticoids. Mutations were introduced into well defined transcription factor binding sites to investigate possible interactions between the cAMP regulatory element (CRE) binding protein (CREB) and glucocorticoid response unit (GRU) binding proteins. H4IIE rat hepatoma cells were transfected with PEPCK-CAT plasmids with or without an expression vector for protein kinase A (PKA). Glucocorticoid-induced CAT activity was dependent upon the GRU and was decreased in plasmids lacking the CRE. To determine the direct effects of CREB, the DNA binding and dimerization domain of GAL4 was substituted for that of CREB (CRG), and the PEPCK CRE was replaced with a GAL4 binding site (G4PEPCK-CAT). CRG elevated basal and glucocorticoid-induced activities of G4PEPCK-CAT equally and restored responsiveness to PKA. The basal activity of CRG was not diminished by concomitant treatment with PKA plus its inhibitor peptide, PKI, or by mutation of the PKA phosphorylation. Deletion of C-terminal regions of the CREB activation domain from CRG diminished basal activation without affecting induction by PKA. The glucocorticoid-induced level of CAT activity decreased in proportion to the reduced ability of CREB to activate basal transcription. Induction by glucocorticoid, in the absence or presence of PKA, was not affected by CRG, indicating that interaction of GRU-bound factors with CREB is not required for glucocorticoid induction of PEPCK. These results indicate that CREB is directly involved in basal and PKA-induced expression of PEPCK, and that CREB supports glucocorticoid-induced PEPCK expression through its positive effect on basal transcription.