Hepatic nuclear factor 3 is an accessory factor required for the stimulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene transcription by glucocorticoids.

Transcription of the hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene is stimulated by glucocorticoids and inhibited by insulin. The glucocorticoid response is mediated by a complex glucocorticoid response unit that consists of two glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-binding sites (GR1 and GR2) and two accessory factor-binding sites (AF1 and AF2). The complete unit is required for the full glucocorticoid response. The dominant insulin effect is mediated in part through an insulin response sequence that is coincident with the AF2 element. Members of the hepatic nuclear factor 3 (HNF3) and CCAAT enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) families bind to the AF2 element; however, there is no correlation between binding of these factors and the ability of the AF2 element to mediate an insulin response. We show here that binding of HNF3 does correlate with the stimulation of the glucocorticoid response by the AF2 element and that C/EBP is apparently not involved in this effect. This requirement for HNF3 is quite specific since the substitution of elements known to enhance the action of the GR in other promoters fails to recapitulate AF2 accessory factor activity. By contrast, an HNF3-binding site from the transthyretin gene is able to substitute for the wild type AF2 sequence and elicit a maximal glucocorticoid response. Based on current and previous observations, the glucocorticoid response unit consists of four DNA elements that bind four different proteins. These are: AF1 (hepatic nuclear factor 4/chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor), AF2 (HNF3), GR1 (GR), and GR2 (GR).