IL-6 mediated activation of Stat3 is a major signaling pathway in the process of breast cancer metastasis. One important mechanism by which the IL-6/Stat3 pathway promotes metastasis is through transcriptional regulation of the actin-bundling protein fascin. In this study, we further analyzed the transcriptional regulation of the fascin gene promoter. We show that in addition to IL-6, TNF-α increases Stat3 and NFκB binding to the fascin promoter to induce its expression. We also show that NFκB is required for Stat3 recruitment to the fascin promoter in response to IL-6. Furthermore, Stat3 and NFκB form a protein complex in response to cytokine stimulation. Finally, we demonstrate that an overlapping STAT/NFκB site in a highly conserved 160-bp region of the fascin promoter is sufficient and necessary to induce transcription in response to IL-6 and TNF-α.
Keywords: Breast Cancer; Fascin, NF KappaB; Stat3; Transcription Regulation; Tumor Metastasis; Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF).
© 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.