Fat-soluble ligands, including sex steroid hormones and environmental toxins, activate ligand-dependent DNA-sequence-specific transcriptional factors that transduce signals through target-gene-selective transcriptional regulation. However, the mechanisms of cellular perception of fat-soluble ligand signals through other target-selective systems remain unclear. The ubiquitin-proteasome system regulates selective protein degradation, in which the E3 ubiquitin ligases determine target specificity. Here we characterize a fat-soluble ligand-dependent ubiquitin ligase complex in human cell lines, in which dioxin receptor (AhR) is integrated as a component of a novel cullin 4B ubiquitin ligase complex, CUL4B(AhR). Complex assembly and ubiquitin ligase activity of CUL4B(AhR) in vitro and in vivo are dependent on the AhR ligand. In the CUL4B(AhR) complex, ligand-activated AhR acts as a substrate-specific adaptor component that targets sex steroid receptors for degradation. Thus, our findings uncover a function for AhR as an atypical component of the ubiquitin ligase complex and demonstrate a non-genomic signalling pathway in which fat-soluble ligands regulate target-protein-selective degradation through a ubiquitin ligase complex.

Osteoblasts and adipocytes differentiate from a common pluripotent precursor, the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC). Studies have identified numerous transcription factors, and multiple extracellular and intracellular signaling pathways that regulate the closely linked processes of adipogenesis and osteoblastogenesis. Interestingly, inducers of differentiation along one lineage often inhibit differentiation along the other; for example, the transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is a prime inducer of adipogenesis that inhibits osteoblastogenesis. The latest research has shown that inducers of osteoblastogenesis (such as bone morphogenetic protein 2 and Wnt ligands) use different mechanisms to suppress the transactivation function of PPARgamma during osteoblastogenesis from MSCs. Signaling via the canonical Wnt-beta-catenin pathway inhibits PPARgamma mRNA expression, whereas signaling via the noncanonical Wnt pathway results in activation of a histone methyltransferase SETDB1 that represses PPARgamma transactivation through histone H3K9 methylation of target genes. This article summarizes Wnt and PPARgamma signaling in MSCs and the crosstalk between these pathways, and speculates on future clinical application of this knowledge as the basis of novel approaches for regeneration therapy.

Androgens play pivotal roles in the regulation of male development and physiological processes, particularly in the male reproductive system. Most biological effects of androgens are mediated by the action of nuclear androgen receptor (AR). AR acts as a master regulator of downstream androgen-dependent signaling pathway networks. This ligand-dependent transcriptional factor modulates gene expression through the recruitment of various coregulator complexes, the induction of chromatin reorganization, and epigenetic histone modifications at target genomic loci. Dysregulation of androgen/AR signaling perturbs normal reproductive development and accounts for a wide range of pathological conditions such as androgen-insensitive syndrome, prostate cancer, and spinal bulbar muscular atrophy. In this review we summarize recent advances in understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms of AR action as well as newly recognized aspects of AR-mediated androgen signaling in both men and women. In addition, we offer a perspective on the use of animal genetic model systems aimed at eventually developing novel therapeutic AR ligands.

Wnt and estrogen signaling represent important regulatory pathways, each controlling a wide range of biological processes. While an increasing number of observations suggest potential convergence between these pathways, no direct evidence of their functional interaction has been reported. Using human colon and breast cancer cells, we found that estrogen receptor (ER) ␣-and ␤-catenin precipitated within the same immunocomplexes, reciprocally enhanced the transactivation of cognate reporter genes, and were reciprocally recruited to cognate response elements in the promoters of endogenous target genes. Using transgenic Drosophila that ectopically expressed human ER␣ alone or together with metabolically stable ␤-catenin/Armadillo mutants, we demonstrated genetic interaction between these signal transducers in vivo. Thus, we present here the first direct evidence of cross-talk between Wnt and estrogen signaling pathways via functional interaction between ␤-catenin and ER␣.

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Transforming growth factor-␤ (TGF-␤

Estrogens play a key role in regulation of bone mass and strength by controlling activity of bone‐forming osteoblasts and bone‐resorbing osteoclasts. Cellular effects of estrogens are mediated predominantly by the action of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα). In earlier studies, ablation of the ERα gene in mice did not result in osteoporotic phenotypes due to systemic endocrine disturbance and compensatory effects of elevated levels of testosterone. Despite the relatively well‐established effects in osteoblasts, little is known about the direct action of estrogen in osteoclasts. Development in the last decade of more sophisticated genetic manipulation approaches opened new possibilities to explore cell‐specific roles of nuclear receptors in bone tissue. Recently, we have generated osteoclast‐specific ERα gene knockout mice and shown that in vivo estrogens directly regulate the life span of mature osteoclasts by inducing the expression of pro‐apoptotic Fas ligand (FasL). Inhibitory effects of estrogens on osteoclast function were further studied in vitro. We observed sufficiently detectable ERα expression in osteoclasts differentiating from primary bone marrow cells or RAW264 cells, although levels of ERα were decreasing during progression of the differentiation into mature osteoclasts. Treatment with estrogens led to reduction in expression of osteoclast‐specific genes controlling bone resorption activity. However, estrogens did not affect the size of multinucleated osteoclasts or number of nuclei in a mature osteoclast. In conclusion, in osteoclasts, estrogens function to inhibit bone resorption activity and vitality rather than differentiation.