Abstract

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), an antimitogenic factor for HepG2 cells, increased mRNA and protein levels of UGT1A1 and CYP2B6, as well as the endogenous cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors p16, p21, and p27 in HepG2 cells but not in HuH6, Caco2, or MCF7 cells. Treatment with 1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis(methylthio)butadiene (U0126) (an extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor) suppressed the HGF-induced expression of UGT1A1 and CYP2B6, as well as p16, p21, and p27 in HepG2 cells. The CDK inhibitor roscovitine also enhanced the expression of UGT1A1, CYP2B6, and CYP3A4. Transfection of anti-CDK2 siRNA led to elevated levels of UGT1A1, CYP2B6, and CYP3A4 in HepG2 and SW480 cells, whereas anti-CDK4 small interfering RNA (siRNA) did not significantly enhance the expression of these enzymes. In fact, CDK2 activity was decreased in HGF-treated HepG2 cells. In cells arrested in S phase by a thymidine block and then released into a synchronous cell cycle, there was a clear dissociation among the activation of CDK2 and the expression of UGT1A1, CYP2B6, and CYP3A4. Furthermore, the induction of CYP3A4 but not UGT1A1 or CYP2B6 mRNA expression by roscovitine was repressed in pregnane X receptor (PXR) siRNA-transfected HepG2 cells. Transfection with constitutive androstane receptor siRNA or PXR siRNA in HepG2 cells did not repress the HGF-stimulated expression of UGT1A1 mRNA. Taken together, our results show that the expression of UGT1A1 and CYP2B6 is negatively regulated through a CDK2 signaling pathway linked to cell cycle progression in HepG2 and SW480 cells, the mechanism of which may differ from that of CYP3A4 expression through PXR phosphorylated by CDK2.