CR6-interacting factor 1 represses the transactivation of androgen receptor by direct interaction

CR6-interacting factor 1 (CRIF1) was previously identified as a nuclear protein that interacts with members of the Gadd45 family and plays a role as a negative regulator in cell growth. However, the nuclear function of CRIF1 remains largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that CRIF1 acts as a novel corepressor of the androgen receptor (AR) in prostatic cells. Transient transfection studies show that CRIF1 specifically represses AR transcriptional activation of target promoters in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, CRIF1 is recruited with AR to the endogenous AR target promoters. In vivo and in vitro protein interaction assays reveal that CRIF1 directly interacts with AR via the activation function-1 domain of AR. Interestingly, both the N-terminal and C-terminal half-regions of CRIF1 are independently capable of interacting with and repressing the transactivation of AR. CRIF1 represses AR transactivation through competition with AR coactivators. In addition, the CRIF1-mediated inhibition of AR transactivation involves the recruitment of histone deacetylase 4. Down-regulation of CRIF1 by small interfering RNA increases the transactivation of AR and the mRNA level of the AR target gene prostate-specific antigen, whereas the overexpression of CRIF1 decreases the prostate-specific antigen mRNA level. Finally, the overexpression of CRIF1 inhibits the androgen-induced proliferation and cell cycle progression of prostate cancer cells. Taken together, these results suggest that CRIF1 acts as an AR corepressor and may play an important role in the regulation of AR-positive growth of prostate cancer.