Molecular characterization of collaborator of ARF (CARF) as a DNA damage response and cell cycle checkpoint regulatory protein

CARF is an ARF-binding protein that has been shown to regulate the p53–p21–HDM2 pathway. CARF overexpression was shown to cause growth arrest of human cancer cells and premature senescence of normal cells through activation of the p53 pathway. Because replicative senescence involves permanent withdrawal from the cell cycle in response to DNA damage response-mediated signaling, in the present study we investigated the relationship between CARF and the cell cycle and whether it is involved in the DNA damage response. We demonstrate that the half-life of CARF protein is less than 60min, and that in cycling cells CARF levels are highest in G2 and early prophase. Serially passaged normal human skin and stromal fibroblasts showed upregulation of CARF during replicative senescence. Induction of G1 growth arrest and senescence by a variety of drugs was associated with increase in CARF expression at the transcriptional and translational level and was seen to correlate with increase in DNA damage response and checkpoint proteins, ATM, ATR, CHK1, CHK2, γH2AX, p53 and p21. Induction of growth arrest by oncogenic RAS and shRNA-mediated knockdown of TRF2 in cancer cells also caused upregulation of CARF. We conclude that CARF is associated with DNA damage response and checkpoint signaling pathways. •CARF is upregulated during replicative senescence in human normal cells.•Induction of premature senescence by drugs results in upregulation of CARF.•Growth arrest by oncogenic RAS also leads to upregulation of CARF.•shRNA-mediated knockdown of TRF2 in cancer cells causes upregulation of CARF.•CARF is a DNA damage response and cell cycle checkpoint regulatory protein.