Krüppel-like factor 4 promotes human osteosarcoma growth and metastasis via regulating CRYAB expression

Abstract

// Lu Zhang 1 , Li Zhang 2 , Xin Xia 1 , Shengwei He 1 , Hongtao He 1 , Wenzhi Zhao 1, 3 1 Department of Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116027, China 2 Laboratory of Pathogenic Biology, College of Basic Medical Science of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116027, China 3 Department of Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116027, China Correspondence to: Wenzhi Zhao, e-mail: drzhaowenzhi@sina.com Keywords: KLF4, osteosarcoma, migration, CRYAB, proliferation Received: February 16, 2016     Accepted: March 31, 2016     Published: April 18, 2016 ABSTRACT Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4), a zinc-finger transcription factor, is an essential regulator in many cellular processes, including differentiation, proliferation, inflammation, pluripotency, and apoptosis. Along with these roles in normal cells and tissues, KLF4 has been reported as a tumor suppressor or an oncogene in many cancers. However, the role of KLF4 in osteosarcoma is largely unknown. Here we found the expression of KLF4 was significantly increased in human osteosarcoma tissues compared with the normal tissues. Elevated KLF4 promoted human osteosarcoma cell proliferation and metastasis. Subsequently, mechanistic studies revealed KLF4 specifically bound the promoter of CRYAB and upregulated CRYAB expression in human osteosarcoma cells. Moreover, we found that KLF4 enhanced osteosarcoma cell proliferation and migration via upregulating CRYAB. Therefore, our studies suggested KLF4 may be a potential target for human osteosarcoma therapy.