Transactivation properties of retinoic acid and retinoid X receptors in mammalian cells and yeast. Correlation with hormone binding and effects of metabolism.

The binding affinities of 9-cis-retinoic acid (9-cis-RA) and all-trans-retinoic acid (t-RA) for retinoic acid receptors (RAR) alpha, beta, and gamma and for retinoid X receptors (RXR) alpha, beta, and gamma were determined using the recombinant receptor proteins and were compared with each hormone's ability to activate transcription through the receptors in mammalian and yeast cell systems. 9-cis-RA bound to both the RXRs (Kd values = 1.4-2.4 nM) and the RARs (Kd values = 0.2-0.8 nM). The ability of 9-cis-RA to bind to the RARs and RXRs correlated with its ability to produce similar transactivation profiles with these receptors in mammalian and yeast cell assays. t-RA bound to the RARs (Kd values = 0.2-0.4 nM) and activated transcription through the RARs in mammalian and yeast cells. In contrast, while t-RA did not bind to the RXRs, it did activate the RXRs, albeit less potently than 9-cis-RA, in mammalian cells. In yeast, however, the RXRs activated transcription only in the presence of 9-cis-RA, not with t-RA. While RAR gamma is activated in yeast by either t-RA or 9-cis-RA, the overall level of transcription was increased upon the addition of hormone-occupied RXR. Metabolism studies suggest that while there was no cell-dependent interconversion between t-RA and 9-cis-RA in yeast, there was cell-dependent conversion of 9-cis-RA to t-RA in mammalian cells [corrected].