Liver X Receptor Ligands Suppress Ubiquitination and Degradation of LXRα by Displacing BARD1/BRCA1

Liver X receptor (LXR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that plays important roles in cholesterol and lipid homeostasis. However, ligand-induced posttranslational modification of LXR is largely unknown. Here, we show that ligand-free LXRα is rapidly degraded by ubiquitination. Without ligand, LXRα interacts with an ubiquitin E3-ligase protein complex containing breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility 1 (BRCA1)-associated RING domain 1 (BARD1). Interestingly, LXR ligand represses ubiquitination and degradation of LXRα, and the interaction between LXRα and BARD1 is inhibited by LXR ligand. Consistently, T0901317, a synthetic LXR ligand, increased the level of LXRα protein in liver. Moreover, overexpression of BARD1/BRCA1 promoted the ubiquitination of LXRα and reduced the recruitment of LXRα to the target gene promoters, whereas BARD1 knockdown reversed such effects. Taken together, these data suggest that LXR ligand prevents LXRα from ubiquitination and degradation by detaching BARD1/BRCA1, which might be critical for the early step of transcriptional activation of ligand-stimulated LXRα through a stable binding of LXRα to the promoters of target genes. Liver X receptor ligands stabilize LXRα protein by preventing LXRα ubiquitination through dissociation of BARD1/BRCA1 complex, a novel ubiquitin E3-ligase of LXRα.