Trichostatin A, a histone deacetylase inhibitor stimulate CYP3A4 proximal promoter activity in hepa-I cells

Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is the most abundant CYPs in human liver, comprising approximately 30% of the total liver CYPs contents and is involved in the metabolism of more than 60% of currently used therapeutic drugs. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of CYP3A4 gene expression have not been understood. Thus, this study has been carried out to gain the insight of the molecular mechanism of CYP3A4 gene expression, investigating if the histone deacetylation is involved in the regulation of CYP3A4 gene expression by proximal promoter. Also SXR was investigated to see if they were involved in the regulation of CYP3A4 proximal promoter activity. Hepa-I cells were transfected with a plasmid containing ∼1 kb of the human CYP3A4 proximal promoter region (863 to +64 bp) cloned in front of a reporter gene, luciferase, in the presence or absence of SXR. Transfected cells were treated with CYP3A4 inducers such as rifampicin, PCN and RU 486, in order to examine the regulation of CYP3A4 gene expression in the presence or absence of trichostatin A (TSA). In Hepa-I cells, CYP3A4 inducers increased modestly the luciferase activity when TSA was cotreated, but this increment was not enhanced by SXR cotransfection. Taken together, these results indicated that the inhibition of histone deacetylation was required to SXR-mediated increase in CYP3A4 proximal promoter region when rifampicin, or PCN was treated. Further a trans-activation by SXR may demand other species-specific transcription factors.