Homeodomain protein CDX2 regulates COX-2 expression in colorectal cancer

CDX2 is an intestine-specific tumor suppressor gene encoding homeodomain-containing transcription factor, which is involved in a variety of developmental, proliferating, and differentiating processes. Moreover, the expression of CDX2 is reduced in a subset of primary colorectal cancers. In contrast, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is often up-regulated in human colorectal cancers. However, the molecular relationship between CDX2 down-regulation and COX-2 up-regulation is unknown. Here we show that CDX2 down-regulates COX-2 promoter activity by interacting with NF-κB. The ectopic expression of CDX2 was found to suppress PMA-induced COX-2 promoter activity in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the treatment of colorectal cancer cells with PMA resulted in significant reduction in the level of endogenous CDX2 and a significant increase in the level of endogenous COX-2, in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, CDX2 was found to co-immunoprecipitate with the p65 subunit of NF-κB and to inhibit p65-induced NF-κB minimal promoter activity in colon cancer cells. These results suggest that reduced CDX2 expression may be involved in colorectal carcinogenesis by enhancing NF-κB-mediated inflammatory genes such as COX-2.