TY - JOUR AU - CHEN Dong AU - LI Yi-pei AU - YU Yan-xia AU - ZHOU Tian AU - LIU Chao AU - FEI Er-kang AU - GAO Feng AU - MU Chen-chen AU - REN Hai-gang AU - WANG Guang-hui PY - 2018 TI - Dendritic cell nuclear protein-1 regulates melatonin biosynthesis by binding to BMAL1 and inhibiting the transcription of N-acetyltransferase in C6 cells JF - Acta Pharmacologica Sinica; Vol 39, No 4 (April 2018): Acta Pharmacologica Sinica(Special Feature:Exosomes) Y2 - 2018 KW - N2 - Abstract Dendritic cell nuclear protein-1 (DCNP1) is a protein associated with major depression. In the brains of depression patients, DCNP1 is up-regulated. However, how DCNP1 participates in the pathogenesis of major depression remains unknown. In this study, we first transfected HEK293 cells with EGFP-DCNP1 and demonstrated that the full-length DCNP1 protein was localized in the nucleus, and RRK (the residues 117-119) composed its nuclear localization signal (NLS). An RRK-deletion form of DCNP1 (DCNP1 ΔRRK ) and truncated form (DCNP1 1-116 ), each lacking the RRK residues, did not show the specific nuclear localization like full-length DCNP1 in the cells. A rat glioma cell line C6 can synthesize melatonin, a hormone that plays important roles in both sleep and depression. We then revealed that transfection of C6 cells with full-length DCNP1 but not DCNP1 ΔRRK or DCNP1 1-116 significantly decreased the levels of melatonin. Furthermore, overexpression of full-length DCNP1, but not DCNP1 ΔRRK or DCNP1 1-116 , in C6 cells significantly decreased both the mRNA and protein levels of N-acetyltransferase (NAT), a key enzyme in melatonin synthesis. Full-length DCNP1 but not DCNP1 ΔRRK or DCNP1 1-116 was detected to interact with the Nat promoter and inhibited its activity through its E-box motif. Furthermore, full-length DCNP1 but not the mutants interacted with and repressed the transcriptional activity of BMAL1, a transcription factor that transactivates Nat through the E-box motif. In conclusion, we have shown that RRK (the residues 117-119) are the NLS responsible for DCNP1 nuclear localization. Nuclear DCNP1 represses NAT expression and melatonin biosynthesis by interacting with BMAL1 and repressing its transcriptional activity. Our study reveals a connection between the major depression candidate protein DCNP1, circadian system and melatonin biosynthesis, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of depression. UR - http://www.chinaphar.com/article/view/9761