ELF4 contributes to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma growth and metastasis by augmenting cancer stemness via FUT9

作者：Aiping Xu, Mingchuang Sun, Zhaoxing Li, Yuan Chu, Kang Fang, Yunwei Zhang, Jingjing Lian, Li Zhang, Tao Chen, Mei‐Dong Xu · 发表于：Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3724/abbs.2023225 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Glycosylation and Glycoproteins Research、Galectins and Cancer Biology、RNA modifications and cancer

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) commonly has aggressive properties and a poor prognosis. Investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of ESCC is crucial for developing effective therapeutic strategies. Here, by performing transcriptome sequencing in ESCC and adjacent normal tissues, we find that E74-like transcription factor 4 (ELF4) is the main upregulated transcription factor in ESCC. The results of the immunohistochemistry show that ELF4 is overexpressed in ESCC tissues and is significantly correlated with cancer staging and prognosis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that ELF4 could promote cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and stemness by in vivo assays. Through RNA-seq and ChIP assays, we find that the stemness-related gene fucosyltransferase 9 ( FUT9 ) is transcriptionally activated by ELF4. Meanwhile, ELF4 is verified to affect ESCC cancer stemness by regulating FUT9 expression. Overall, we first discover that the transcription factor ELF4 is overexpressed in ESCC and can promote ESCC progression by transcriptionally upregulating the stemness-related gene FUT9 .