SNAIL and miR-34a feed-forward regulation of ZNF281/ZBP99 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Here, we show that expression of ZNF281/ZBP-99 is controlled by SNAIL and miR-34a/b/c in a coherent feed-forward loop: the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) inducing factor SNAIL directly induces ZNF281 transcription and represses miR-34a/b/c, thereby alleviating ZNF281 mRNA from direct down-regulation by miR-34. Furthermore, p53 activation resulted in a miR-34a-dependent repression of ZNF281. Ectopic ZNF281 expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells induced EMT by directly activating SNAIL, and was associated with increased migration/invasion and enhanced β-catenin activity. Furthermore, ZNF281 induced the stemness markers LGR5 and CD133, and increased sphere formation. Conversely, experimental down-regulation of ZNF281 resulted in mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) and inhibition of migration/invasion, sphere formation and lung metastases in mice. Ectopic c-MYC induced ZNF281 protein expression in a SNAIL-dependent manner. Experimental inactivation of ZNF281 prevented EMT induced by c-MYC or SNAIL. In primary CRC samples, expression of ZNF281 increased during tumour progression and correlated with recurrence. Taken together, these results identify ZNF281 as a component of EMT-regulating networks, which contribute to metastasis formation in CRC.