Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Investigation of the Transcriptional Role of a RUNX1 Intronic Silencer by CRISPR/Cas9 Ribonucleoprotein in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells
09:16

Investigation of the Transcriptional Role of a RUNX1 Intronic Silencer by CRISPR/Cas9 Ribonucleoprotein in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells

Published on: September 1, 2019

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Runx3 in Immunity, Inflammation and Cancer

Joseph Lotem1, Ditsa Levanon1, Varda Negreanu1

  • 1Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel.

Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
|March 17, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Runx3 is not a tumor suppressor gene (TSG) as previously thought. Instead, Runx3 overexpression promotes cancer progression, and its role in cancer is linked to immunity and inflammation.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • The role of Runx3 as a tumor suppressor gene (TSG) in epithelial cancers has been debated.
  • Previous hypotheses suggested RUNX3 inactivation contributes to cancer development.
  • Recent evidence challenges the RUNX3-TSG paradigm.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the evidence for and against Runx3 functioning as a major tumor suppressor gene (TSG).
  • To explore the contrasting roles of Runx3 in normal epithelia versus tumor cells.
  • To investigate the indirect influence of Runx3 on epithelial tumor development via immune and inflammatory pathways.

Main Methods:

  • Review and synthesis of existing literature on Runx3 function in cancer.
  • Analysis of high-throughput quantitative genome-wide studies.
  • Examination of data from mouse cancer models.

Main Results:

  • Runx3 is not expressed in normal gastric and other epithelia, contradicting the TSG model.
  • RUNX3 is frequently overexpressed in various human epithelial tumors.
  • Overexpression of RUNX3 in pancreatic cancer promotes migration, anchorage-independent growth, and metastasis.

Conclusions:

  • RUNX3 is not a bona fide cell-autonomous TSG.
  • RUNX3 overexpression can drive tumor progression and metastasis.
  • Runx3's primary role in cancer development is indirect, through its influence on immunity and inflammation.
Keywords:
CancerImmunityInflammationRUNX3Tumor suppressor gene

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