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Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Leipzig, Ph.-Rosenthal-Street 27, 04103 Leipzig, Germany¹ Institute of Pathology and Neuropathology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany² Institute of Pathology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany³ Department of Surgery, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany

(Correspondence should be addressed to D Fuhrer; Email: fued{at}medizin.uni-leipzig.de)

^* (S Karger and C Weidinger contributed equally to this study)

The forkhead box transcription factor FOXO3a has recently been identified as central mediator of the cellular response to oxidative stress inducing cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. The aim of our study was to investigate the regulation of FOXO3a in the thyroid and to determine whether alterations in FOXO3a activity occur in thyroid carcinogenesis. In vitro, we demonstrate that FOXO3a activity is negatively regulated by the PI3K/Akt cascade promoting increased phosphorylation and cytoplasmatic accumulation of FOXO3a with decreased transcription of the target genes p27kip (CDKN1B) and Bim (BCL2L11), but increased expression of GADD45A. By contrast, we show that H₂O₂ exposure activates FOXO3a in thyrocytes with JNK (MAPK8)-mediated nuclear accumulation of FOXO3a and increased expression of the cell cycle arrest genes p27kip and GADD45A. In vivo, we observed a marked cytoplasmatic accumulation of FOXO3a in differentiated thyroid cancers versus an exclusive nuclear accumulation in follicular adenoma and normal thyroid tissue. Moreover, this cytosolic accumulation of FOXO3a correlated with an increased phospho-Akt expression in thyroid malignancies and was accompanied by decreased expression of the FOXO targets p27kip and Bim and an increase in GADD45A mRNA expression in the thyroid cancers. Our data suggest FOXO3a as a novel player of cellular stress response in the thyroid, mediating the thyrocyte's fate either to survive or to undergo apoptosis. Furthermore, PI3K-dependent FOXO3a inactivation may be a novel pathomechanism for the escape from apoptosis in thyroid cancer cells, in particular in follicular thyroid carcinoma.