Abstract
Although nuclear factor E2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) protects from carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis, underlying the rationale for using Nrf2 inducers in chemoprevention, this antioxidative transcription factor may also act as a proto-oncogene. Thus, an enhanced Nrf2 activity promotes formation and chemoresistance of colon cancer. One mechanism causing persistent Nrf2 activation is the adaptation of epithelial cells to oxidative stress during chronic inflammation, e.g. colonocytes in inflammatory bowel diseases, and the multifunctional stress response gene immediate early response-3 (IER3) has a crucial role under these conditions. We now demonstrate that colonic tissue from Ier3(-/-) mice subject of dextran sodium sulfate colitis exhibit greater Nrf2 activity than Ier3(+/+) mice, manifesting as increased nuclear Nrf2 protein level and Nrf2 target gene expression. Likewise, human NCM460 colonocytes subjected to shRNA-mediated IER3 knockdown exhibit greater Nrf2 activity compared with control cells, whereas IER3 overexpression attenuated Nrf2 activation. IER3-deficient NCM460 cells exhibited reduced reactive oxygen species levels, indicating increased antioxidative protection, as well as lower sensitivity to TRAIL or anticancer drug-induced apoptosis and greater clonogenicity. Knockdown of Nrf2 expression reversed these IER3-dependent effects. Further, the enhancing effect of IER3 deficiency on Nrf2 activity relates to the control of the inhibitory tyrosine kinase Fyn by the PI3K/Akt pathway. Thus, the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 or knockdown of Akt or Fyn expression abrogated the impact of IER3 deficiency on Nrf2 activity. In conclusion, the interference of IER3 with the PI3K/Akt-Fyn pathway represents a novel mechanism of Nrf2 regulation that may get lost in tumors and by which IER3 exerts its stress-adaptive and tumor-suppressive activity.
Highlights
nuclear factor E2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) has a dual role in tumorigenesis
We demonstrate that colonic tissue from Ier3؊/؊ mice subject of dextran sodium sulfate colitis exhibit greater Nrf2 activity than Ier3؉/؉ mice, manifesting as increased nuclear Nrf2 protein level and Nrf2 target gene expression
In common with many other tumor entities, colorectal cancer cells are characterized by higher Nrf2 activity and exhibit Nrf2-dependent resistance to death ligands and anticancer drugs [12, 26, 49]
Summary
Imke Stachel‡1,2, Claudia Geismann‡1, Konrad Aden‡, Florian Deisinger‡, Philip Rosenstiel§, Stefan Schreiber‡, Susanne Sebens¶, Alexander Arlt‡, and Heiner Schäfer‡3 From the ‡Department of Internal Medicine 1, Laboratory of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, UKSH-Campus Kiel, the ¶Institute for Experimental Medicine, UKSH Campus Kiel, and the §Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology, UKSH-Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Strasse 3, 24105 Kiel, Germany
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