DHT Causes Liver Steatosis via Transcriptional Regulation of SCAP in Lean female Mice

Hyperandrogenemia (HA) and insulin resistance are hallmarks of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). These hallmarks are also integral elements of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NALFD). Administering low dose dihydrotestosterone (DHT) induced a lean PCOS-like female mouse model. The molecular mechanism of HA-induced NAFLD has not been determined. We hypothesized that low dose DHT would interrupt hepatic lipid metabolism leading to NAFLD. We extracted white adipose tissue (WAT), liver, and skeletal muscle from control and low dose DHT female mice; and performed histological and biochemical lipid profiles, Western blot, immunoprecipitation, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and real-time quantitative PCR analyses. DHT lowered the 65 kD form of cytosolic SREBP1 in the liver and WAT compared to controls. However, DHT did not alter the levels of the active and inactive forms of SREBP2 in the liver and WAT. DHT increased SCAP protein expression and SCAP-SREBP1 binding via AR binding to intron-8 of SCAP leading to increased SCAP mRNA. FAS mRNA and protein expression was increased in liver of DHT mice. p-ACC levels were unaltered in liver but decreased in WAT. Other lipid metabolism pathways were examined in liver and WAT, but no changes were observed. Our findings suggest that DHT increased de novo lipogenic proteins resulting in increased NAFLD via regulation of SREBP1 in liver. We show that in the presence of DHT the SCAP-SREBP1 interaction is elevated leading to increased nuclear SREBP1 resulting in increased de novo lipogenesis. We propose that the mechanism of action is increased AR binding to an ARE in SCAP intron-8.