Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) is a ligand-responsive transcription factor critical for sex determination and development. Recent reports challenge the canonical view of ERα function by suggesting an activity beyond binding dsDNA at estrogen-responsive promotor elements: association with RNAs in vivo. Whether these interactions are direct or indirect remains unknown, which limits the ability to understand the extent, specificity, and biological role of ERα-RNA binding. Here we demonstrate that an extended DNA-binding domain of ERα directly binds a wide range of RNAs in vitro with structural specificity. ERα binds RNAs that adopt a range of hairpin-derived structures independent of sequence, while interacting poorly with single- and double-stranded RNA. RNA affinities are only 4-fold weaker than consensus dsDNA and significantly tighter than nonconsensus dsDNA sequences. Moreover, RNA binding is competitive with DNA binding. Together, these data show that ERα utilizes an extended DNA-binding domain to achieve a high-affinity/low-specificity mode for interacting with RNA.
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Estrogen Stimulation of Kiss1 Expression in the Medial Amygdala Involves Estrogen Receptor-α But Not Estrogen Receptor-β
- Award ID(s):
- 1457226
- PAR ID:
- 10058614
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Endocrinology
- Volume:
- 157
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 0013-7227
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 4021 to 4031
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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