Kaiso represses the expression of glucocorticoid receptor via a methylation-dependent mechanism and attenuates the anti-apoptotic activity of glucocorticoids in breast cancer cells

BMB Rep. 2016 Mar;49(3):167-72. doi: 10.5483/bmbrep.2016.49.3.151.

Abstract

Kaiso is a Pox Virus and Zinc Finger (POZ-ZF) transcription factor with bi-modal DNA-binding specificity. Here, we demonstrated that Kaiso expression is inversely correlated with glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in breast carcinomas. Knockdown of Kaiso increased GR expression, while overexpression of Kaiso inhibited GR expression in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, Kaiso repressed GR proximal promoter-reporter activity in a dose-dependent manner. Remarkably, ChIP experiments demonstrated that endogenous Kaiso was associated with the GR promoter sequence in a methylation-dependent manner. Since glucocorticoids inhibit chemotherapyinduced apoptosis and have been widely used as a co-treatment of patients with breast cancer, we assessed the role of Kasio in GR-mediated anti-apoptotic effects. We found that overexpression of Kaiso attenuated the anti-apoptotic effects of glucocorticoids in breast cancer cells. Our findings suggest that GR is a putative target gene of Kaiso and suggest Kaiso to be a potential therapeutic target in GC-combination chemotherapy in breast cancer. [BMB Reports 2016; 49(3): 167-172].

Publication types

  • News

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis / drug effects*
  • Apoptosis / genetics
  • Base Sequence
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Breast Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • CpG Islands / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / drug effects
  • Glucocorticoids / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Methylation / drug effects
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic / genetics
  • Protein Binding / drug effects
  • Receptors, Glucocorticoid / genetics
  • Receptors, Glucocorticoid / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Signal Transduction / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*

Substances

  • Glucocorticoids
  • Receptors, Glucocorticoid
  • Transcription Factors
  • ZBTB33 protein, human