Deficiency of Capicua disrupts bile acid homeostasis

doi : 10.1038/ncomms7810

Eunjeong Kim, Sungjun Park, Nahyun Choi, Jieon Lee, Jeehyun Yoe, Soeun Kim, Hoe-Yune Jung, Kyong-Tai Kim, Hyojin Kang, John D. Fryer, Huda Y. Zoghbi, Daehee Hwang & Yoontae Lee

Received: 20 August 2014, Accepted: 10 December 2014, Published online: 05 February 2015

Abstract
Capicua (CIC) has been implicated in pathogenesis of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 and cancer in mammals; however, the in vivo physiological functions of CIC remain largely unknown. Here we show that Cic hypomorphic (Cic-L-/-) mice have impaired bile acid (BA) homeostasis associated with induction of proinflammatory cytokines. We discovered that several drug metabolism and BA transporter genes were down-regulated in Cic-L-/- liver, and that BA was increased in the liver and serum whereas bile was decreased within the gallbladder of Cic-L-/- mice. We also found that levels of proinflammatory cytokine genes were up-regulated in Cic-L-/- liver. Consistent with this finding, levels of hepatic transcriptional regulators, such as hepatic nuclear factor 1 alpha (HNF1α), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta (C/EBPβ), forkhead box protein A2 (FOXA2), and retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRα), were markedly decreased in Cic-L-/- mice. Moreover, induction of tumor necrosis factor alpha (Tnfα) expression and decrease in the levels of FOXA2, C/EBPβ, and RXRα were found in Cic-L-/- liver before BA was accumulated, suggesting that inflammation might be the cause for the cholestasis in Cic-L-/- mice. Our findings indicate that CIC is a critical regulator of BA homeostasis, and that its dysfunction might be associated with chronic liver disease and metabolic disorders.

Link : http://www.nature.com/articles/srep08272?WT.ec_id=SREP-631-20150210