Inhibition of low density lipoprotein receptor expression by long-term exposure to phorbol ester via p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway

The proximal region -234 to (+58 bp) of low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) is responsible for its up-regulation by sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP). However, the mechanism of sterol-independent repression of LDLR has not been determined yet. In this study, we observed that there was an early induction and a later repression of LDLR by phorbol ester WMA) in SK-Hep1 hepatocarcinoma cells and investigated the mechanisms through which PMA repressed LDLR transcription. SK-Hep1 cells were exposed to PMA and LDLR mRNA was evaluated by RTPCR and Northern blot analysis. The effect of phorbol ester on LDLR transcriptional activity was studied using transient transfection of LDLR promoter-luciferase constructs. Overexpression of N-SREBP-2, a dominant positive SREBP2, did not reverse the PMA-repressed LDLR promoter activity. Serial deletion of LDLR promoter revealed that the region between -1,563 and -1,326 was responsible for the repression. The pretreatment with SB202190, an inhibitor for p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (p38-MAPK), but not other signaling inhibitors, reversed the PMA-induced repression. The 24 h-treatment with PMA efficiently arrested the SK-Hep1 cell cycle at G(0)/G(1) as demonstrated by FACS analysis and decreased the 3 H-thymidine incorporation. The PMA-induced repression of LDLR transcription may be exerted by the factor(s), not SREBP2, induced or modified by p38-MAPK-mediated signaling pathway and associated with cell cycle blockage.