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hCLCA2 Is a p53-Inducible Inhibitor of Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation

Departments of ¹ Pharmacology and ² Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology, SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois

Requests for reprints: Randolph Elble, PO Box 19629, Springfield, IL 62794. Phone: 217-545-7381; Fax: 217-545-6823; E-mail: relble2{at}siumed.edu.

Key Words: DNA damage • p53 • chloride channel regulator • breast cancer • tumor suppressor • intracellular acidification

hCLCA2 is frequently down-regulated in breast cancer and is a candidate tumor suppressor gene. We show here that the hCLCA2 gene is strongly induced by p53 in response to DNA damage. Adenoviral expression of p53 induces hCLCA2 in a variety of breast cell lines. Further, we find that p53 binds to consensus elements in the hCLCA2 promoter and mutation of these sites abolishes p53-responsiveness and induction by DNA damage. Adenoviral transduction of hCLCA2 into immortalized cells induces p53, CDK inhibitors p21 and p27, and cell cycle arrest by 24 hours, and caspase induction and apoptosis by 40 hours postinfection. Transduction of the malignant tumor cell line BT549 on the other hand does not induce p53, p21, or p27 but instead induces apoptosis directly and more rapidly. Knockout and knockdown studies indicate that growth inhibition and apoptosis are signaled via multiple pathways. Conversely, suppression of hCLCA2 by RNA interference enhances proliferation of MCF10A and reduces sensitivity to doxorubicin. Gene expression profiles indicate that hCLCA2 levels are strongly predictive of tumor cell sensitivity to doxorubicin and other chemotherapeutics. Because certain Cl^– channels are proposed to promote apoptosis by reducing intracellular pH, we tested whether, and established that, hCLCA2 enhances Cl^– current in breast cancer cells and reduces pH to 6.7. These results reveal hCLCA2 as a novel p53-inducible growth inhibitor, explain how its down-regulation confers a survival advantage to tumor cells, and suggest both prognostic and therapeutic applications. [Cancer Res 2009;69(16):6624–32]