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Mosaic Zebrafish Transgenesis for Functional Genomic Analysis of Candidate Cooperative Genes in Tumor Pathogenesis
Published on: March 31, 2015
ZFP161 promotes colorectal cancer progression by transcriptionally activating c-MYC
Grania Christyani1, Chenghui Cai2, Yening Feng3
1Department of Integrated Biomedical Science, Soonchunhyang Institute of Medi-bio Science (SIMS), Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
Zinc Finger Protein 161 (ZFP161) is a key regulator of Ataxia Telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) signaling, playing a crucial role in maintaining genomic stability. Human ZFP161 activates c-MYC, whereas its murine ortholog, ZF5, serves as a putative transcriptional repressor of c-MYC. In this study, we identified ZFP161 as a direct regulator of c-MYC. We show that ZFP161 binds to the promoter region of c-MYC, modulating its expression and downstream signaling pathways. Additionally, ZFP161 promotes cell proliferation and tumorigenesis through c-MYC regulation and contributes to the malignant transformation of non-cancerous retinal pigment epithelial (RPE-1) cells. Furthermore, high ZFP161 expression is associated with poor survival in patients with mixed colon adenocarcinoma. These findings suggest that the regulation of c-MYC by ZFP161 may represent a potential therapeutic target in c-MYC-driven cancers.
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