The transcription factor ZNF248 promotes colorectal cancer metastasis by binding to ZEB1

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors globally, with metastasis emerging as the leading cause of mortality in CRC patients. Transcription factors play pivotal roles in the metastatic process. Using bioinformatics tools, we analyzed the TCGA-COAD and GES146587 datasets and identified ZNF248 participating in tumor progression. By analyzing 100 CRC patient tissues, it is found that ZNF248 is highly expressed in cancer tissue as well as in CRC cell lines identified by qRT-PCR. Our study discovered that ZNF248 enhances CRC cell migratory and invasive capabilities. A positive correlation was found between ZNF248 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers (ZEB1, snail1), while E-cadherin exhibited a negative correlation with ZNF248. In addition, the analysis of the TCGA dataset demonstrated a strong correlation between the mRNA level of ZNF248 and ZEB1 expressions. Furthermore, it is found that the overexpression of ZEB1 could reverse CRC cell invasion and migration, along with the inhibition on EMT marker expressions induced by the RNA interference with ZNF248. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated a substantial association of ZNF248 expression with the lymph node metastasis, and with the liver metastasis (P =0.01, P =0.01), and a positive correlation between ZNF248 and ZEB1 expression (P =0.021) was also identified. Using Chip-PCR assay, it is found that ZNF248 bound to the ZEB1 promoter region. These findings showed that ZNF248 promotes CRC metastasis in vivo, revealed its role as an oncogene in CRC by targeting ZEB1 and activating the EMT pathway, which provided novel and promising biomarkers for CRC therapy through targeting ZEB1.