RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Identification of Endogenous Glucocorticoid Repressed Genes Differentially Regulated by a Glucocorticoid Receptor Mutant Able to Separate between Nuclear Factor-κB and Activator Protein-1 Repression JF Molecular Pharmacology JO Mol Pharmacol FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 815 OP 826 DO 10.1124/mol.104.005801 VO 67 IS 3 A1 Lars-Göran Bladh A1 Johan Lidén A1 Karin Dahlman-Wright A1 Mark Reimers A1 Stefan Nilsson A1 Sam Okret YR 2005 UL http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/67/3/815.abstract AB Glucocorticoids are commonly used in the clinic, but long-term treatment is often associated with severe side effects. One way to reduce unwanted effects is to restrict glucocorticoid receptor (GR) signaling through defined pathways. In this study, we examine endogenous target genes regulated by a GR mutant that in contrast to the wild-type GR is unable to repress stimulated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity, whereas repression of activator protein-1 (AP-1) activity is maintained. This GR mutant (GRR488Q) harbors a point mutation in the second zinc finger of the DNA binding domain. Its ability to distinguish between NF-κB and AP-1 repression is defined using reporter genes regulated by both simple and natural promoters. The inability of GRR488Q to repress NF-κB was not related to its inability to activate target genes through a glucocorticoid response element. Furthermore, the discriminating property was observed in three different cell lines, suggesting that this is not a cell-specific effect. These results show that different receptor surfaces or mechanisms are involved in repression of NF-κB and AP-1, respectively. It is interesting that the GRR488Q still interacted physically with NF-κB. Gene expression profiling of human embryonic kidney 293 cells, which express the wild-type GR and the GRR488Q mutant allowed identification of endogenous genes preferentially repressed by GR interference with NF-κB activity. The genes differentially regulated by GRR488Q mutant versus the wild-type GR after 2 h of treatment seem mainly to be involved in control of transcription and cell growth. At 8 h, no such distinction could be seen.