Liver receptor homolog 1 (LRH-1) is an orphan nuclear receptor that synergizes with beta-catenin/T cell factor 4 signaling to stimulate intestinal crypt cell renewal. We evaluated here the impact of haploinsufficiency of LRH-1 on intestinal tumorigenesis by using two independent mouse models of human colon tumorigenesis. Haploinsufficiency of LRH-1 blunts intestinal tumorigenesis in the ApcMin/+ mice, a genetic model of intestinal cancer. Likewise, Lrh-1+/- mice are protected against the formation of aberrant crypt foci in the colon of mice exposed to the carcinogen azoxymethane. LRH-1 gene expression is reduced in tumors that express elevated levels of the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha. Reciprocally, decreased LRH-1 expression in Lrh-1+/- mice attenuates TNF-alpha expression. Compared with normal human colon, expression and subcellular localization of LRH-1 is significantly altered in neoplastic colon. In combination, these data suggest a role of LRH-1 in the initiation of intestinal tumorigenesis both by affecting cell cycle control as well as through its impact on inflammatory pathways.
Michele De Palma, Nadine Fournier, Stefanie Siegert, Mauro Delorenzi, Mario Leonardo Squadrito, Sina Nassiri, Pascale Anderle Pedone, Simone Ragusa, François Renevey
Didier Trono, Evaristo Jose Planet Letschert, Nikolaos Lykoskoufis