Induced ATF-2 represses CDK4 transcription through dimerization with JunD inhibiting intestinal epithelial cell growth after polyamine depletion.

Intestinal epithelium is a rapidly self-renewing tissue in the body, and its homeostasis is tightly regulated by numerous factors including polyamines. Decreased levels of cellular polyamines increase activating transcription factor (ATF)-2, but the exact role and mechanism of induced ATF-2 in the regulation of intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) growth remain elusive. Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 is necessary for the G1-to-S phase transition during the cell cycle, and its expression is predominantly controlled at the transcription level. Here, we reported that induced ATF-2 following polyamine depletion repressed CDK4 gene transcription in IECs by increasing formation of the ATF-2/JunD heterodimers. ATF-2 formed complexes with JunD as measured by immunoprecipitation using the ATF-2 and JunD antibodies and by glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assays using GST-ATF-2 fusion proteins. Studies using various mutants of GST-ATF-2 revealed that formation of the ATF-2/JunD dimers depended on the COOH-terminal basic region-leucine zipper domain of ATF-2. Polyamine depletion increased ATF-2/JunD complex and inhibited CDK4 transcription as indicated by a decrease in the levels of CDK4-promoter activity and its mRNA. ATF-2 silencing not only prevented inhibition of CDK4 transcription in polyamine-deficient cells but also abolished repression of CDK4 expression induced by ectopic JunD overexpression. ATF-2 silencing also promoted IEC growth in polyamine-depleted cells. These results indicate that induced ATF-2/JunD association following polyamine depletion represses CDK4 transcription, thus contributing to the inhibition of IEC growth.