A coregulatory role for the TRAP-Mediator complex in androgen receptor-mediated gene expression

The human thyroid hormone receptor-associated protein (TRAP)-Mediator complex was originally identified as a large multimeric complex that copurifies with the thyroid hormone receptor (TR) from HeLa cells and markedly enhances TR-mediated transcription in vitro. More recent studies have implicated TRAP-Mediator as a coactivator for a broad range of nuclear hormone receptors as well as other classes of transcriptional activators. Here we present evidence that TRAP-Mediator plays a functional role in androgen receptor (AR)-mediated transcription. We show that several subunits of the complex ligand-dependently coimmunoprecipitate with AR from both prostate cancer LNCaP cells and from HeLa cells stably transfected with AR. The 220-kDa subunit of the complex (TRAP220) can contact the ligand-binding domain of AR in vitro, possibly implicating TRAP220 involvement in targeting AR to the holocomplex. Consistent with a TRAP-Mediator coactivator role, transient overexpression of the TRAP220, TRAP170, and TRAP100 subunits enhanced ligand-dependent transcription by AR in cultured cells. Finally, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays show that TRAP220 is recruited to the androgen-responsive prostate-specific antigen gene promoter in vivo in ligand-stimulated LNCaP cells. Collectively, these data suggest that TRAP-Mediator may play an important coregulatory role in AR-mediated gene expression.