Dataset Information

Phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) gene expression is induced by estrogen in human and mouse primary hepatocytes.

ABSTRACT: Choline is an essential nutrient for humans, though some of the requirement can be met by endogenous synthesis catalyzed by phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT). Premenopausal women are relatively resistant to choline deficiency compared with postmenopausal women and men. Studies in animals suggest that estrogen treatment can increase PEMT activity. In this study we investigated whether the PEMT gene is regulated by estrogen. PEMT transcription was increased in a dose-dependent manner when primary mouse and human hepatocytes were treated with 17-beta-estradiol for 24 h. This increased message was associated with an increase in protein expression and enzyme activity. In addition, we report a region that contains a perfect estrogen response element (ERE) approximately 7.5 kb from the transcription start site corresponding to transcript variants NM_007169 and NM-008819 of the human and murine PEMT genes, respectively, three imperfect EREs in evolutionarily conserved regions and multiple imperfect EREs in nonconserved regions in the putative promoter regions. We predict that both the mouse and human PEMT genes have three unique transcription start sites, which are indicative of either multiple promoters and/or alternative splicing. This study is the first to explore the underlying mechanism of why dietary requirements for choline vary with estrogen status in humans.

SUBMITTER: Resseguie M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2430895 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) gene expression is induced by estrogen in human and mouse primary hepatocytes.

Resseguie Mary M Song Jiannan J Niculescu Mihai D MD da Costa Kerry-Ann KA Randall Thomas A TA Zeisel Steven H SH

FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 20070424 10

Choline is an essential nutrient for humans, though some of the requirement can be met by endogenous synthesis catalyzed by phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT). Premenopausal women are relatively resistant to choline deficiency compared with postmenopausal women and men. Studies in animals suggest that estrogen treatment can increase PEMT activity. In this study we investigated whether the PEMT gene is regulated by estrogen. PEMT transcription was increased in a dose-dependent ma ...[more]

PMID: 17456783

Similar Datasets

Project description:Primary hepatocyte culture is an important in vitro system for the study of liver functions. In vivo, hepatocytes have high oxidative metabolism. However, oxygen supply by means of diffusion in in vitro static cultures is much less than that by blood circulation in vivo. Therefore, we investigated whether hypoxia contributes to dedifferentiation and deregulated metabolism in cultured hepatocytes. To this end, murine hepatocytes were cultured under static or shaken (60 revolutions per minute) conditions in a collagen sandwich. The effect of hypoxia on hepatocyte cultures was examined by metabolites in media and cells, hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF)-1/2? western blotting, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction for HIF target genes and key genes of glucose and lipid metabolism. Hepatocytes in shaken cultures showed lower glycolytic activity and triglyceride accumulation than static cultures, compatible with improved oxygen delivery and mitochondrial energy metabolism. Consistently, static cultures displayed significant HIF-2? expression, which was undetectable in freshly isolated hepatocytes and shaken cultures. Transcript levels of HIF target genes (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase [Gapdh], glucose transporter 1 [Glut1], pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 [Pdk1], and lactate dehydrogenase A [Ldha]) and key genes of lipid metabolism, such as carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (Cpt1), apolipoprotein B (Apob), and acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase 1 (Acc1), were significantly lower in shaken compared to static cultures. Moreover, expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4? (Hnf4?) and farnesoid X receptor (Fxr) were better preserved in shaken cultures as a result of improved oxygen delivery. We further revealed that HIF-2 signaling was involved in hypoxia-induced down-regulation of Fxr. Conclusion: Primary murine hepatocytes in static culture suffer from hypoxia. Improving oxygenation by simple shaking prevents major changes in expression of metabolic enzymes and aberrant triglyceride accumulation; in addition, it better maintains the differentiation state of the cells. The shaken culture is, therefore, an advisable strategy for the use of primary hepatocytes as an in vitro model. (Hepatology Communications 2018;2:299-312).

Project description:UnlabelledBetaine-homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) regulates homocysteine levels in the liver. We previously reported that the alteration of BHMT is associated with alcoholic liver steatosis and injury. In this study, we tested whether BHMT protects hepatocytes from homocysteine-induced injury and lipid accumulation. Both BHMT transfectants of HepG2 cells and primary mouse hepatocytes with suppressed BHMT were generated. Comparisons were made between the cell models with respect to their response to homocysteine treatments. Homocysteine metabolism was impaired in HepG2 cells, and the expression of BHMT in HepG2 cells ameliorated the impairment and stabilized the levels of intracellular homocysteine after the addition of exogenous homocysteine. BHMT expression inhibited homocysteine-induced glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) and homocysteine-induced cell death. A betaine treatment protected primary mouse hepatocytes from a homocysteine-induced increase in GRP78 and cell death but not a tunicamycin-induced increase. Homocysteine induced greater CHOP expression (2.7-fold) in BHMT small interfering RNA (siRNA)-transfected cells than in a control (1.9-fold). Homocysteine-induced cell death was increased by 40% in the siRNA-treated cells in comparison with the control. Apolipoprotein B (apoB) expression was higher and triglycerides and cholesterol were lower in HepG2 expressing BHMT. In primary mouse hepatocytes, homocysteine induced the accumulation of triglycerides and cholesterol, which was reduced in the presence of betaine. Betaine partially reduced homocysteine-induced sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 expression in HepG2 cells and increased S-adenosylmethionine in primary mouse hepatocytes.ConclusionThe BHMT/betaine system directly protects hepatocytes from homocysteine-induced injury but not tunicamycin-induced injury, including an endoplasmic reticulum stress response, lipid accumulation, and cell death. This system also exhibits a more generalized effect on liver lipids by inducing ApoB expression and increasing S-adenosylmethionine/S-adenosylhomocysteine.

Dataset Information

Phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) gene expression is induced by estrogen in human and mouse primary hepatocytes.

Publications

Phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) gene expression is induced by estrogen in human and mouse primary hepatocytes.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets