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Current Genomics

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1389-2029
ISSN (Online): 1875-5488

Expression and Function of Kruppel Like-Factors (KLF) in Carcinogenesis

Author(s): Christophe Bureau, Naima Hanoun, Jerome Torrisani, Jean-Pierre Vinel, Louis Buscail and Pierre Cordelier

Volume 10, Issue 5, 2009

Page: [353 - 360] Pages: 8

DOI: 10.2174/138920209788921010

Price: $65

Abstract

Kruppel-like factor (KLF) family members share a three C2H2 zinc finger DNA binding domain, and are involved in cell proliferation and differentiation control in normal as in pathological situations. Studies over the past several years support a significant role for this family of transcription factors in carcinogenesis. KLFs can both activate and repress genes that participate in cell-cycle regulation. Among them, many up-regulated genes are inhibitors of proliferation, whereas genes that promote cell proliferation are repressed. However, several studies do present KLFs as positive regulator of cell proliferation. KLFs can be deregulated in multiple cancers either by loss of heterozygosity (LOH), somatic mutation or transcriptional silencing by promoter hypermethylation. Accordingly, KLF expression was shown to mediate growth inhibition when ectopically expressed in multiple cancer-derived cell lines through the inhibition of a number of key oncogenic signaling pathways, and to revert the tumorogenic phenotype in vivo. Taken together, these observations suggest that KLFs act as tumor suppressor. However, in some occasion, KLFs could act as tumor promoters, depending on “cellular context”. Thus, this review will discuss the roles and the functions of KLF family members in carcinogenesis, with a special focus on cancers from epithelial origin.


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