Pax proteins are transcription factors that control differentiation of several cell types. In adult organisms Pax-8 is expressed in the follicular thyroid cell where it interacts with sequences of thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase promoters. In this study, we provide evidence indicating that Pax-8 protein levels regulate thyroglobulin gene transcription. The most critical approach consisted in increasing Pax-8 protein levels by transfecting thyroid cells with a Pax-8 expression vector. In this situation the thyroglobulin promoter transcriptional activity was significantly increased with respect to untransfected cells. In contrast, the transfection of thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) expression vector causes a modest decrease of thyroglobulin promoter activity, rather than an increase. Northern blots of human papillary cancers reveal a significant correlation between Pax-8 and thyroglobulin mRNAs. Gel-retardation assays suggest that the mechanism by which the Pax-8 protein levels modulate thyroglobulin promoter activity may occur through competition with TTF-1 for a common binding site. Since we also demonstrate that Pax-8 expression is subjected to TSH control, our data strongly suggest that Pax-8 protein levels could represent an important determinant for the regulation of thyroid cells.

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