Juvenile hormone potentiates ecdysone receptor-dependent transcription in a mammalian cell culture system

Insect development is guided by the combined actions of ecdysteroids and juvenile hormones (JHs). The transcriptional effects of ecdysteroids are mediated by a protein complex consisting of the ecdysone receptor (EcR) and its heterodimeric partner, Ultraspiracle (USP), but a corresponding JH receptor has not been defined conclusively. Given that the EcR ligand binding domain (LBD) is similar to that of the JH-responsive rat farnesoid-X-activated receptor (FXR), we sought to define experimental conditions under which EcR-dependent transcription could be promoted by JH. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were transfected with a plasmid carrying an ecdysteroid-inducible reporter gene, a second plasmid expressing one of the three amino-terminal variants of Drosophila EcR or an EcR chimera, and a third plasmid expressing either the mouse retinoid X receptor (RXR), or its insect orthologue, USP. Each of the EcR variants responded to the synthetic ecdysteroid, muristerone A (murA), but a maximal response to 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) was achieved only for specific EcR combinations with its heterodimeric partner. Notably, the Drosophila EcR isoforms were responsive to 20E only when paired with USP, and only EcRB2 activity was further potentiated by JHIII in the presence of 20E. EcR chimeras that fuse the activator domains from VP16 or the glucocorticoid receptor to the Drosophila EcR DNA-binding and ligand-binding domains were responsive to ecdysteroids. Again, the effects of JHIII and 20E were associated with specific partners of the chimeric EcRs. In all experiments, the LBD of EcR proved to be the prerequisite component for potentiation by JHIII, and in this conformation may resemble the FXR LBD. Our results indicate that EcR responsiveness is influenced by the heterodimeric partner and that both the N-terminal domain of EcR and the particular ecdysteroid affect JHIII potentiation.