Regulation of bone sialoprotein gene transcription by steroid hormones

During the initial formation of bone, dentine and cementum in tooth morphogenesis, fully differentiated osteoblasts, odontoblasts and cementoblasts express bone sialoprotein (BSP), a mineralized tissue-specific acidic glycoprotein that has been implicated in the nucleation of hydroxyapatite crystal growth. The expression of BSP is regulated by steroid hormones that modulate mineralized tissue formation. Thus, the transcription of the BSP gene is induced by glucocorticoids in association with osteoblast differentiation and glucocorticoids also stimulate the expression of BSP in differentiated osteoblasts. In contrast, however, vitamin D-3 suppresses bone formation and abrogates the expression of BSP. Our studies, using the osteoblastic cell lines ROS 17/2.8 and UMR 106-06, have revealed that the glucocorticoid (10(-8) M dexamethasone; dex) effect on BSP mRNA involves both direct and indirect pathways. To determine the molecular basis of the direct pathway on transcriptional regulation of the BSP we have isolated and characterized the promoter regions of both the human and rat BSP genes. The promoters are characterized by a highly conserved region (BSP box) encompassing the immediate promoter region, which includes a unique inverted TATA box overlapped by a putative (DR3) vitamin D-3 response element (VDRE). Possible glucocorticoid response elements are present similar to 1 kb and similar to 1.4 kb fur?her upstream. Transient transfection analysis of chimeric constructs linked to a luciferase reporter gene have shown Dex-stimulated expression in constructs that include one or both GREs, whereas vit D-3 suppresses expression in a short construct that includes the VDRE. Mobility shift assays indicate a modest binding of the glucocorticoid receptor protein (GR) to the GREs and strong binding of the vitamin D-3 receptor protein (VDR) to the VDRE. These studies indicate that the increased transcription of BSP by osteoblastic cells in the presence of glucocorticoids is mediated in part by interaction of the GR with cognate elements in the gene promoter whereas the suppression of BSP transcription by vitamin D-3 may involve competition between the VDR and the TATA binding protein (TBP).