Activation of TGF-β-Smad signaling pathway following polyamine depletion in intestinal epithelial cells
Smad proteins are transcription activators that are critical for transmitting transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily signals from the cell surface receptors to the nucleus. Our previous studies have shown that cellular polyamines are essential for normal intestinal mucosal growth and that a decreased level of polyamines inhibits intestinal epithelial cell proliferation, at least partially, by increasing expression of TGF-β/TGF-β receptors. The current study went further to determine the possibility that Smads are the downstream intracellular effectors of activated TGF-β/TGF-β receptor signaling following polyamine depletion. Studies were conducted in IEC-6 cells derived from rat small intestinal crypts. Depletion of cellular polyamines by α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) increased basal levels of Smad3 and Smad4 proteins, induced their nuclear translocation, and stimulated Smad sequence-specific DNA-binding activity. Polyamine depletion-induced Smads were also associated with a significant increase in transcription activation as measured by luciferase reporter gene activity of Smad-dependent promoters. Inhibition of Smads by a dominant-negative mutant Smad4 in the DFMO-treated cells prevented the increased Smad transcription activation. Polyamine-deficient cells highly expressed TGF-β and were growth-arrested at the G1 phase. Inhibition of TGF-β by treatment with either immunoneutralizing anti-TGF-β antibody or TGF-β antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotides not only blocked the induction of Smad activity but also decreased the Smad-mediated transcriptional activation in polyamine-depleted cells. These findings suggest that Smads are involved in the downstream cellular processes mediated by cellular polyamines and that increased TGF-β/TGF-β receptor signaling following polyamine depletion activates Smads, thus resulting in the stimulation of Smad target gene expression.