Identification of retinoic acid as an inhibitor of transcription factor Nrf2 through activation of retinoic acid receptor alpha

Abstract

Isothiocyanates and phenolic antioxidants can prevent cancer through activation of Nrf2 (NF-E2 p45-related factor 2), a transcription factor that controls expression of cytoprotective genes through the antioxidant response element (ARE) enhancer. Using a human mammary MCF7-derived AREc32 reporter cell line, we now report that all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), and other retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARalpha) agonists, markedly reduces the ability of Nrf2 to mediate induction of ARE-driven genes by cancer chemopreventive agents including the metabolite of butylated hydroxyanisole, tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ). The basal and tBHQ-inducible expression of aldo-keto reductase (AKR) AKR1C1 and AKR1C2 genes, which are regulated by Nrf2, was also repressed by ATRA in AREc32 cells. Antagonists of RARalpha augmented induction of ARE-driven gene expression by tBHQ, as did knockdown of RARalpha by using RNAi. The expression of the ARE-gene battery was increased in the small intestine of mice fed on a vitamin A-deficient diet, and this increase was repressed by administration of ATRA. By contrast, in the small intestine of Nrf2 null mice, the expression of ARE-driven genes was not affected by vitamin A status. In MCF7 cells, ATRA did not block the nuclear accumulation of Nrf2 but reduced the binding of Nrf2 to the ARE enhancer as a consequence of forming a complex with RARalpha. These data suggest that cross-talk between Nrf2 and RARalpha could markedly influence the sensitivity of cells to electrophiles and oxidative stressors and, as a consequence, to carcinogenesis.