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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Bead Aggregation Assays for the Characterization of Putative Cell Adhesion Molecules
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Integrin-linked kinase regulates E-cadherin expression through PARP-1

Timothy R McPhee1, Paul C McDonald, Arusha Oloumi

  • 1Genetics Graduate Program, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Developmental Dynamics : an Official Publication of the American Association of Anatomists
|September 6, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK) controls E-cadherin expression via Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1). ILK regulates PARP-1 binding to the Snail promoter, impacting epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cancer progression.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Oncology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • E-cadherin repression by Snail is crucial for epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer progression.
  • Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK) is a potential regulator of cellular processes involved in cancer.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the role of ILK in regulating E-cadherin expression.
  • To identify the signaling pathway through which ILK affects E-cadherin and EMT.

Main Methods:

  • Overexpression and silencing of ILK, Akt, and Snail in Scp2 and PC3 cell lines.
  • Identification of Snail promoter ILK Responsive Element (SIRE) binding proteins using biochemical assays.
  • Analysis of PARP-1 binding to SIRE and its effect on Snail and ZEB1 expression.

Main Results:

  • ILK overexpression stimulated Snail expression and decreased E-cadherin.
  • Silencing ILK, Akt, or Snail led to E-cadherin re-expression.
  • PARP-1 was identified as a SIRE-binding protein; ILK silencing inhibited this binding.
  • PARP-1 silencing reduced Snail and ZEB1, upregulating E-cadherin.

Conclusions:

  • ILK represses E-cadherin expression by regulating PARP-1.
  • PARP-1 binding to the Snail promoter (SIRE) is a key mechanism modulated by ILK.
  • This ILK-PARP-1-Snail axis represents a novel regulatory pathway in EMT and cancer.

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