Upregulation of C/EBPα contributes to colorectal cancer growth, metastasis and indicates poor survival outcome

American Journal of Cancer Research

Xianzi Wen¹  Jing Sun²  Kai Hu³  Lan Mi⁴ 

[1] Department of General Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China;European Pancreas Centre/EPZ, Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing, China;Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Gastrointestinal Cancer Translational Research Laboratory, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing, China

关键词: C/EBPα;    colorectal cancer;    proliferation;    metastasis;    EMT;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：肿瘤学

来源: e-Century Publishing Corporation

【 摘 要 】

The function and clinical implication of transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α (C/EBPα) in colorectal cancer (CRC) still remains undefined. In fact, C/EBPα has long been considered as a tumor suppressor in hematopoietic system and also found lowly expressed in numerous solid tumors. However, our results here for the first time showed that C/EBPα was unexpectedly upregulated and was an independent prognostic marker for patients with CRC. We therefore aimed to explore the detailed role and mechanisms of C/EBPα in CRC. Our investigation demonstrated that C/EBPα promoted tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, suppression of C/EBPα inhibited cell proliferation by inducing G1 phase arrest and inducing apoptosis. Also, C/EBPα enhances CRC cells migration and invasion in vitro as well as metastasis in vivo through regulating EMT. Mechanistically, C/EBPα exerts its oncogenic role by targeting c-Myc/cyclin D1 mediated by β-catenin involved pathway and we provide evidence indicating that cytoplasmic exclusion of C/EBPα might contribute to its oncogenic function in tumor progression. In conclusion, C/EBPα acts as an oncogene in CRC and could be a potential biomarker of colon carcinogenesis.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC