Epigenetic Regulation of Gonadotropin Hormone Beta Subunit Gene Expression

Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus regulates the synthesis and secretion of gonadotropin hormones, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). LH regulates steroidogenesis in both sexes and ovulation in females, while FSH stimulates folliculogenesis in females and spermatogenesis in males. LH and FSH are heterodimers of a common alpha subunit and a unique beta subunit, which provides biological specificity and is the rate limiting factor in hormone synthesis. Immediate early genes, early growth response 1 (Egr1) and fos proto-oncogene (cFos) are critical in the induction of LH-beta and FSH-beta subunits by GnRH, respectfully. However, gaps exist in our understanding of developmental initiation and hormonal regulation of gonadotropin gene expression. Specifically, epigenetic mechanisms that may play a role in beta subunit transcriptional regulation are unknown. The aim of this work was to identify transcriptional cofactors that are recruited to gonadotropin beta-subunit promoters with or without GnRH. Transcription factors interact with cofactors that recruit chromatin remodeling enzymes in order to regulate transcription. Identification of cofactors may explain tight regulation of gonadotropin hormone levels in reproductive physiology. Previous studies identified regions on the beta-subunit promoters that are necessary for GnRH responsiveness. These regions were used to pull down interacting proteins that bind to these response elements using nuclear extracts from the immortalized mature gonadotrope cell line, LβT2. Using a discovery proteomics approach, we identified different transcriptional cofactors that are recruited to beta subunit promoters with or without GnRH. Approximately 1500-2000 proteins were identified per pulldown. As expected, proteins known to interact with beta subunit promoters, such as Egr1, cFos and cJun were identified in the DNA pulldown experiments as positive controls. We identified 63 proteins unique for LH-beta promoter under control conditions and 60 unique for FSH-beta promoter, of which 7 proteins for LH-beta and 8 proteins for FSH-beta may play a role as corepressors. We further identified 97 proteins that were pulled down with the LH-beta promoter following GnRH treatment, of which 9 proteins were also pulled down with Egr1 as potential coactivator candidates. We also identified 72 proteins that were pulled down with the FSH-beta promoter following GnRH treatment, of which 6 proteins were pulled down with cFos as potential coactivator candidates. Functional studies to identify roles of these cofactors in gonadotropin hormone expression are in progress. The identification of epigenetic regulators will allow for better understanding of the transcriptional regulation of gonadotropin beta-subunit gene expression, which is critical for reproductive function.