Antioxidants have been associated with a diminished risk of cancer at various anatomical sites, including the colon (1, 2). The primary mechanism of chemoprevention by antioxidants is through the reduction of DNA-damaging free radicals (3). We have reported that two antioxidants, pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC) 1 and vitamin E, induce G 1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in various human cancer lines including breast, colon, and lung (4). These cell cycle perturbations were mediated by induction of p21, a powerful inhibitor of the cell cycle, through a mechanism involving activation and binding of C/ EBP to the p21 promoter.C/EBP is a member of a diverse group of nuclear transcription factors that contain a leucine zipper motif required for dimer formation and a basic DNA-binding domain that facilitates interactions between these factors and the regulatory domains of promoters and/or enhancers of target genes (5-11).C/EBP activates several acute phase protein genes through the NF-IL6 responsive elements (8,12) and also has been implicated in adipocyte differentiation and inflammatory and immune responses (13). Thus, C/EBP is a pleiotropic transactivator involved in a myriad of signal transduction and cell differentiation events.Control of C/EBP expression and activity is complex and poorly understood. It is known that C/EBP gene is transcriptionally activated by IL-1 and lipopolysaccharide (5), whereas in other instances its binding to cognate DNA sequences is enhanced by cytokines (5, 11). Additionally, C/EBP can be a target for post-translational modification. Various kinases, including cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) (14), protein kinase C (PKC) (15), a Ras-dependent MAP kinase (16), and a calcium calmodulin-dependent kinase (17) have been shown to phosphorylate C/EBP in vitro. These phosphorylation events modulate DNA binding and transcriptional activity of C/EBP. However, it is unknown if the phosphorylation status of C/ EBP influences its subcellular compartmentalization. Elevation of cAMP levels in PC-12 cells or activation of tumor necrosis factor receptors in hepatocytes leads to a redistribution of C/EBP from the cytosolic to nuclear compartment (9, 18). As a first step toward understanding the antioxidant-mediated increase in C/EBP DNA binding activities, we evaluated the effect of the antioxidant PDTC on the post-translational modification and subcellular localization of C/EBP in DKO-1 cells, a human colorectal cancer cell line. Our results indicate that PDTC induces a rapid and sustained translocation of C/EBP protein from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, resulting in induction of p21. Moreover, we demonstrate that these antioxidantmediated events are regulated by PKA-mediated phosphorylation of Ser 299 in C/EBP.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURESMaterials-DKO-1 cells were obtained from Dr. Takehiko Sasazuki (Department of Genetics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan). FLAG antibodies were purchased from Amersham, and antibodies raised against p21 and the C/EBP proteins ␣ (14AA),  (C-19), and ...