Inverted CCAAT box binding protein of 90 kDa (ICBP90) is a nuclear protein involved in the topoisomerase IIalpha (TopoIIalpha) gene expression. It belongs to a family of E3 ligases of the RING finger type and its expression is deregulated in cancer cells. Previous studies have shown that high expression of ICBP90 may impair the control of G1/S transition of the cell cycle in various cancer cell lines. Since PKA signaling pathway is involved in G1/S transition of the cell cycle, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether cAMP signaling pathways involve phosphorylation of ICBP90. Here, we show that phosphorylation of ICBP90 through the cAMP signaling pathway accelerates exit of forskolin-treated cells from the G1 phase and increases binding of ICBP90 to the ICB2 element of the TopoIIalpha gene promoter with a subsequent increase of TopoIIalpha expression. We identify S298 of ICBP90 as target for PKA. We propose that cAMP signaling pathway enhances TopoIIalpha expression through ICBP90 phosphorylation, which may be one of the major events involved in the G1/S transition. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.