Hypothyroidism reduces tricarboxylate carrier activity and expression in rat liver mitochondria by reducing nuclear transcription rate and splicing efficiency

The tricarboxylate carrier (TCC), also known as citrate carrier, is an integral protein of the mitochondrial inner membrane. It is an essential component of the shuttle system by which mitochondrial acetyl-CoA, primer for both fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis, is transported into the cytosol, where lipogenesis occurs. The effect of hypothyroidism on the activity and expression of the hepatic mitochondrial TCC was investigated in this study. TCC activity was significantly decreased in hypothyroid rats as compared with euthyroid animals. This hormone deficiency effect was due to a reduction in the amount of carrier protein, which resulted from a proportionate decrease of the specific mRNA. Hypothyroidism did not influence TCC mRNA stability. On the other hand, nuclear run-on assay revealed that the transcriptional rate of TCC mRNA decreased by similar to 40% in the nuclei from hypothyroid versus euthyroid rats. In addition, the ribonuclease protection assay showed that, in the nuclei of hypothyroid rats, the ratio of mature to precursor RNA decreased, indicating that the splicing of TCC RNA is affected. Furthermore, we found that the ratio of polyadenylated/unpolyadenylated TCC RNA as well as the length of the TCC RNA poly(A) tail were similar in both euthyroid and hypothyroid rats. Thus, the rate of formation of the TCC 3'-end is not altered in hypothyroidism. These results suggest that hypothyroidism affects TCC expression at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels.