We isolated two cDNA clones of rat Hex, a homeobox protein, studied its expression in rat liver and various cells, and characterized the protein. The levels of Hex mRNA were only slightly increased in liver of rats refed with a high-carbohydrate diet or after partial hepatectomy. Whereas the expression of Hex mRNA was detected in hepatocytes isolated from adult rat liver and also in highly differentiated hepatoma cells, no Hex mRNA was detected in poorly differentiated hepatoma cells. Hex mRNA was also detected in liver from embryo aged 15 days. Expression of Hex was increased in F9 cells during differentiation into visceral endoderm cells by treatment with retinoic acid. This stimulation occurred prior to an increase in the level of α-fetoprotein mRNA. When fusion-protein expression vectors of GAL4 DNA-binding domain and Hex were co-transfected with luciferase reporter plasmid, with or without five copies of the GAL4-binding site, into HepG2 cells, the luciferase activities were decreased in concentration- and GAL4-binding site-dependent manners. This repression did not require the presence of the homeodomain, which is located between the amino acid residues 137 and 196. Its repression domain was mapped between the residues 45 and 136 in the proline-rich N-terminal region. In addition, the homeodomain was responsible for DNA-binding of Hex. These results indicate that Hex functions as a transcriptional repressor and may be involved in the differentiation and/or maintenance of the differentiated state in hepatocytes.

Mammalian pyruvate kinase (PK), a key glycolytic enzyme, has two genes named PKL and PKM , which produce the L- and R-type isoenzymes by means of alternative promoters, and the M 1 -and M 2 -types by mutually exclusive alternative splicing respectively. The expression of these genes is tissue-specific and under developmental, dietary and hormonal control. The L-type isoenzyme (L-PK) gene contains multiple regulatory elements necessary for regulation in the 5´ flanking region, up to position -170. Both L-II and L-III elements are required for stimulation of L-PK gene transcription by carbohydrates such as glucose and fructose, although the L-III element is itself responsive to carbohydrates. The L-II element is also responsible for the gene regulation by polyunsaturated fatty acids. Nuclear factor-1 proteins and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4, which bind to the L-II element, may also be involved in carbohydrate and polyunsaturated fatty acid regulation of the L-PK gene respectively. However, the L-III-element-binding protein that is involved in carbohydrate regulation remains to be clarified, although involvement by an upstream stimulating factor has been proposed. Available evidence suggests that the carbohydrate signalling pathway to the L-PK gene includes a glucose metabolite, possibly glucose 6-phosphate or xylulose 5-phosphate, as well as phosphorylation and dephosphorylation mechanisms. In addition, at least five regulatory elements have been identified in the 5´ flanking region of the PKM gene up to position -279. Sp1-family proteins bind to two proximal elements, but the binding of proteins to other elements have not yet been clarified. Glucose may stimulate the transcription of the PKM gene via hexosamine derivatives. Sp1 may be involved in this regulation via its dephosphorylation, although the carbohydrate response element has not been determined precisely in the PKM gene. Thus glucose stimulates transcription of the PKM gene by the mechanism which is probably different from the L-PK gene.

The L-II element (-149 to -126 bp) in the enhancer unit of the rat pyruvate kinase L (PKL) gene is required for cell-type-specific transcription and induction by carbohydrates. This element was found to bind multiple nuclear proteins with different heat stabilities. A heat-labile factor was shown to be hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF) 4 by the electrophoretic mobility-shift assay (EMSA) using various competitor DNAs and anti-HNF4 serum. A heat-stable factor was purified from rat liver nuclear extract and was resolved as two protein bands migrating at about 33 kDa on SDS/polyacrylamide gels. Peptide sequence analysis revealed that these proteins were nuclear factor (NF) 1-L and NF1/Red1. The heat-stable factor was also identified as a member of the NF1 family by using various competitor DNAs and anti-NF1 serum in an EMSA. In addition, we found that a factor bound to the accessory site of the rat S 14 gene, which is necessary for carbohydrate responsiveness of this gene, was also a member of the NF1 family, raising the possibility that the NF1 family is involved in the carbohydrate regulation of gene transcription by interactions with other proteins. The NF1 family members and HNF4 interacted with overlapping sequences of the L-II element, wherein the 5′ half-site was more critical for NF1 binding, and the 3′ site was more important for HNF4 binding. Co-transfection of a vector expressing either NF1-L or NF1/Red1 repressed the transcription of the PKL enhancer unit–chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) fusion gene in HepG2 cells, whereas co-transfection of a vector expressing HNF4 activated the transcription of the same reporter gene. Furthermore NF1 family members antagonized the effect of HNF4 on PKL enhancer unit–CAT fusion gene expression when both expression plasmids were co-transfected. We conclude that NF1 family members and HNF4 regulate transcription of the PKL gene in an opposing manner by binding overlapping sequences of the L-II element.