RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Repression of the Nuclear Receptor Small Heterodimer Partner (SHP) by Steatotic Drugs and in Advanced Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) JF Molecular Pharmacology JO Mol Pharmacol FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP mol.114.096313 DO 10.1124/mol.114.096313 A1 Marta Benet A1 Carla Guzman A1 Sandra Pisonero-Vaquero A1 M. Victoria Garcia-Mediavilla A1 Sonia Sanchez-Campos A1 M. Luz Martinez-Chantar A1 M Teresa Donato A1 Jose V. Castell A1 Ramiro Jover YR 2015 UL http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2015/01/22/mol.114.096313.abstract AB The small heterodimer partner (SHP, NR0B2) is an atypical nuclear receptor that lacks DNA-binding domain. It interacts with and inhibits many transcription factors, affecting key metabolic processes including bile acid, cholesterol, fatty acid and drug metabolism. Our aim was to determine the influence of steatotic drugs and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on SHP expression, and to investigate the potential mechanisms. SHP was found repressed by steatotic drugs (valproate, doxycycline, tetracycline and cyclosporin A) in cultured hepatic cells, and in the livers of different animal models of NAFLD: iatrogenic (tetracycline treated rats), genetic (glycine N-methyltransferase deficient mice) and nutritional (mice fed a methionine and choline deficient diet). Among the different transcription factors investigated, CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein α (C/EBPα) showed the strongest dominant-repressive effect on SHP expression in HepG2 and human hepatocytes. Reporter assays revealed that the inhibitory effect of C/EBPα and steatotic drugs co-localize between -340 and -509 bp of the SHP promoter and mutation of a predicted C/EBPα response element at -473 bp abolished SHP repression by both C/EBPα and drugs. Moreover, inhibition of major stress signaling pathways demonstrated that the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 pathway activates while the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase pathway represses SHP in a C/EBP-dependent manner. We conclude that SHP is downregulated by several steatotic drugs and in advanced NAFLD. These conditions can activate signals that target C/EBPα and consequently repress SHP, thus favoring the progression and severity of NAFLD.