C/EBPβ reprograms white 3T3-L1 preadipocytes to a brown adipocyte pattern of gene expression

cAMP-dependent protein kinase induction of PPAR gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1 alpha) and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression is an essential step in the commitment of preadipocytes to the brown adipose tissue (BAT) lineage. We studied the molecular mechanisms responsible for differential expression of PGC-1 alpha in HIB1B (BAT) and 3T3-L1 white adipose tissue (WAT) precursor cell lines. In HIB1B cells PGC-1 alpha and UCP1 expression is cAMP-inducible, but in 3T3-L1 cells, expression is reduced and is cAMP-insensitive. A proximal 264-bp PGC-1 alpha reporter construct was cAMP-inducible only in HIB1B cells and was suppressed by site-directed mutagenesis of the proximal cAMP response element (CRE). In electrophoretic mobility shift assays, the transcription factors CREB and C/EBP beta, but not C/EBP alpha and C/EBP beta, bound to the CRE on the PGC-1 alpha promoter region in HIB1B and 3T3-L1 cells. Chromatin immuno-precipitation studies demonstrated that C/EBP beta and CREB bound to the CRE region in HIB1B and 3T3-L1 cell lysates. C/EBP alpha expression was induced by cAMP only in HIB1B cells, and overexpression of C/EBP beta rescued cAMP-inducible PGC-1 alpha and UCP1 expression in 3T3-L1 cells. These data demonstrate that differentiation of preadipocytes toward the BAT rather than the WAT phenotype is controlled in part by the action of C/EBP beta on the CRE in PGC-1 alpha proximal promoter.