Abstract

Many self-renewal-promoting factors of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been implicated in carcinogenesis, while little known about the genes that direct ESCs exit from pluripotency and regulate tumor development. Here, we show that the transcripts of Gadd45 family genes, including Gadd45a, Gadd45b, and Gadd45g, are gradually increased upon mouse ESC differentiation. Upregulation of Gadd45 members decreases cell proliferation and induces endodermal and trophectodermal lineages. In contrast, knockdown of Gadd45 genes can delay mouse ESC differentiation. Mechanistic studies reveal that Gadd45g activates MAPK signaling by increasing expression levels of the positive modulators of this pathway, such as Csf1r, Igf2, and Fgfr3. Therefore, inhibition of MAPK signaling with a MEK specific inhibitor is capable of eliminating the differentiation phenotype caused by Gadd45g upregulation. Meanwhile, GADD45G functions as a suppressor in human breast cancers. Enforced expression of GADD45G significantly inhibits tumor formation and breast cancer metastasis in mice through limitation of the propagation and invasion of breast cancer cells. These results not only expand our understanding of the regulatory network of ESCs, but also help people better treatment of cancers by manipulating the prodifferentiation candidates.