STEAP3 promotes colon cancer cell proliferation and migration via regulating histone acetylation

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent diagnosed cancer in men and second most prevalent cancer in women. H3K27ac alterations are more commonly than gene mutations in colorectal cancer. Most colorectal cancer genes have significant H3K27ac changes, which leads to an over-expression disorder in gene transcription. Over-expression of STEAP3 is involved in a variety of tumors, participating in the regulation of cancer cell proliferation and migration. The purpose of this work is to investigate the role of STEAP3 in the regulation of histone modification (H3K27ac) expression in colon cancer. Bioinformatic ChIP-seq, ChIP-qPCR and ATAC-seq were used to analyze the histone modification properties and gene accessibility of STEAP3. Western blot and qRT-PCR were used to evaluate relative protein and gene expression, respectively. CRISPR/Cas9 technology was used to knockout STEAP3 on colon cancer cells to analyze the effect of ATF3 on STEAP3. STEAP3 was over-expressed in colon cancer and associated with higher metastases and more invasive and worse stage of colon cancer. ChIP-seq and ChIP-qPCR analyses revealed significant enrichment of H3K27ac in the STEAP3 gene. In addition, knocking down STEAP3 significantly inhibits colon cancer cell proliferation and migration and down-regulates H3K27ac expression. ChIP-seq found that ATF3 is enriched in the STEAP3 gene and CRISPR/Cas9 technology used for the deletion of the ATF3 binding site suppresses the expression of STEAP3. Over-expression of STEAP3 promotes colon cancer cell proliferation and migration. Mechanical studies have indicated that H3K27ac and ATF3 are significantly enriched in the STEAP3 gene and regulate the over-expression of STEAP3.