Epigenetic modification of Nrf2 in 5-fluorouracil-resistant colon cancer cells: involvement of TET-dependent DNA demethylation

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a widely used anticancer drug for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, resistance to 5-FU often prevents the success of chemotherapy. Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a transcriptional regulator and a possible target to overcome 5-FU resistance. The present study examined epigenetic changes associated with Nrf2 induction in a human CRC cell line (SNUC5) resistant to 5-FU (SNUC5/5-FUR). Nrf2 expression, nuclear translocation, and binding to promoter were higher in SNUC5/5-FUR cells than in SNUC5 cells. The activated Nrf2 in SNUC5/5-FUR cells led to an increase in the protein expression and activity of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an Nrf2-regulated gene. SNUC5/5-FUR cells produced a larger amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) than SNUC5 cells. The siRNA- or shRNA-mediated knockdown of Nrf2 or HO-1 significantly suppressed cancer cell viability and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo, resulting in enhanced 5-FU sensitivity. Methylation-specific (MS) or real-time quantitative MS-PCR data showed hypomethylation of the Nrf2 promoter CpG islands in SNUC5/5-FUR cells compared with SNUC5 cells. Expression of the DNA demethylase ten-eleven translocation (TET) was upregulated in SNUC5/5-FUR cells. ROS generated by 5-FU upregulated TET1 expression and function, whereas antioxidant had the opposite effect. These results suggested that the mechanism underlying the acquisition of 5-FU resistance in CRC involves the upregulation of Nrf2 and HO-1 expression via epigenetic modifications of DNA demethylation.