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Glutathione (GSH), an abundant nonprotein thiol antioxidant, participates in several biological processes and determines the functionality of stem cells. A detailed understanding of the molecular network mediating GSH dynamics is still lacking. Here, we show that activating transcription factor-2 (ATF2), a cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB), plays a crucial role in maintaining the level and activity of GSH in human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) by crosstalking with nuclear factor erythroid-2 like-2 (NRF2), a well-known master regulator of cellular redox homeostasis. Priming with ascorbic acid 2-glucoside (AA2G), a stable vitamin C derivative, increased the expression and activity of ATF2 in MSCs derived from human embryonic stem cells and umbilical cord. Subsequently, activated ATF2 crosstalked with the CREB1-NRF2 pathway to preserve the GSH dynamics of MSCs through the induction of genes involved in GSH synthesis (GCLC and GCLM) and redox cycling (GSR and PRDX1). Accordingly, shRNA-mediated silencing of ATF2 significantly impaired the self-renewal, migratory, proangiogenic, and anti-inflammatory capacities of MSCs, and these defects were rescued by supplementation of the cells with GSH. In addition, silencing ATF2 attenuated the ability of MSCs to alleviate airway inflammatory responses in an ovalbumin-induced mouse model of allergic asthma. Consistently, activation of ATF2 by overexpression or the AA2G-based priming procedure enhanced the core functions of MSCs, improving the in vivo therapeutic efficacy of MSCs for treating asthma. Collectively, our findings suggest that ATF2 is a novel modulator of GSH dynamics that determines the core functionality and therapeutic potency of MSCs used to treat allergic asthma.

Aberrant activation of embryogenesis-related molecular programs in urothelial bladder cancer (BC) is associated with stemness features related to oncogenic dedifferentiation and tumor metastasis. Recently, we reported that overexpression of transcription factor CP2-like protein-1 (TFCP2L1) and its phosphorylation at Thr177 by cyclin-dependent kinase-1 (CDK1) play key roles in regulating bladder carcinogenesis. However, the clinical relevance and therapeutic potential of this novel CDK1-TFCP2L1 molecular network remain elusive. Here, we demonstrated that inhibitor of DNA binding-2 (ID2) functions as a crucial mediator by acting as a direct repressive target of TFCP2L1 to modulate the stemness features and survival of BC cells. Low ID2 and high CDK1 expression were significantly associated with unfavorable clinical characteristics. TFCP2L1 downregulated ID2 by directly binding to its promoter region. Consistent with these findings, ectopic expression of ID2 or treatment with apigenin, a chemical activator of ID2, triggered apoptosis and impaired the proliferation, suppressed the stemness features, and reduced the invasive capacity of BC cells. Combination treatment with the specific CDK1 inhibitor RO-3306 and apigenin significantly suppressed tumor growth in an orthotopic BC xenograft animal model. This study demonstrates the biological role and clinical utility of ID2 as a direct target of the CDK1-TFCP2L1 pathway for modulating the stemness features of BC cells.