The putative tumor suppressor Tsc-22 is downregulated early in chemically induced hepatocarcinogenesis and may be a suppressor of Gadd45b.

Tsc-22 is a novel tumor suppressor gene that represents a new class of transcription factors that has transcriptional repressor activity. We found Tsc-22 downregulation in livers from B6C3F1 mice following treatment for 2 weeks with carcinogenic doses of the antianxiety drug oxazepam (2500 ppm) or the peroxisome proliferator Wyeth-14,643 (500 ppm) but not with two other carcinogens such as o-nitrotoluene or methyleugenol or three noncarcinogens including p-nitrotoluene, eugenol, or acetaminophen. The expression of Tsc-22 was also repressed in B6C3F1 mouse liver tumors that were induced by several chemicals from 2-year carcinogenicity studies as well as in spontaneous liver tumors. To identify potential Tsc-22 target genes in mouse liver, we transfected small interference RNA (SiRNA) designed to inhibit Tsc-22 into murine liver BNL-CL.2 cells. We selected two potential transcriptional targets of Tsc-22, growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible gene 45 beta (Gadd45b) and leucine zipper, putative tumor suppressor 2 (Lzts2) to test based on our previous complementary DNA microarray studies, showing that expression of these cancer-associated genes was increased when Tsc-22 was repressed. SiRNA treatment of BNL-CL.2 cells with Tsc-22 oligonucleotides but not nonspecific oligonucleotides decreased RNA and protein expression of Tsc-22 by 80-90%, while expression of Gadd45b gene, but not Lzts2, was increased over time after an initial decrease. Treatment of these cells with oxazepam for 48 h also resulted in decreased Tsc-22 and increased Gadd45b expression. These data provide evidence that Tsc-22 is a suppressor of Gadd45b expression, which may contribute to an early antiapoptotic response.