Department of Cancer Immunology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Rokietnicka 8, 60-806 Poznan, Poland.
Department of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Greater Poland Cancer Centre, 15 Garbary Street, 61-866 Poznan, Poland.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Feb 23;22(4):2212. doi: 10.3390/ijms22042212.
Krüppel-associated box zinc finger proteins (KRAB-ZFPs) constitute the largest family of transcriptional factors exerting co-repressor functions in mammalian cells. In general, KRAB-ZFPs have a dual structure. They may bind to specific DNA sequences via zinc finger motifs and recruit a repressive complex through the KRAB domain. Such a complex mediates histone deacetylation, trimethylation of histone 3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me3), and subsequent heterochromatization. Nevertheless, apart from their repressive role, KRAB-ZFPs may also co-activate gene transcription, likely through interaction with other factors implicated in transcriptional control. KRAB-ZFPs play essential roles in various biological processes, including development, imprinting, retroelement silencing, and carcinogenesis. Cancer cells possess multiple genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic aberrations. A growing number of data indicates that the expression of many KRAB-ZFPs is altered in several tumor types, in which they may act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. Hereby, we review the available literature describing the oncogenic and suppressive roles of various KRAB-ZFPs in cancer. We focused on their association with the clinicopathological features and treatment response, as well as their influence on the cancer cell phenotype. Moreover, we summarized the identified upstream and downstream molecular mechanisms that may govern the functioning of KRAB-ZFPs in a cancer setting.
Krüppel 相关盒锌指蛋白(KRAB-ZFPs)构成了哺乳动物细胞中发挥共抑制功能的最大转录因子家族。一般来说,KRAB-ZFPs 具有双重结构。它们可以通过锌指基序结合特定的 DNA 序列,并通过 KRAB 结构域募集抑制复合物。该复合物介导组蛋白去乙酰化、组蛋白 3 赖氨酸 9 三甲基化(H3K9me3),随后导致异染色质化。然而,除了它们的抑制作用外,KRAB-ZFPs 还可能通过与其他参与转录调控的因子相互作用共同激活基因转录。KRAB-ZFPs 在各种生物学过程中发挥着重要作用,包括发育、印记、逆转录元件沉默和致癌作用。癌细胞具有多种基因组、表观基因组和转录组异常。越来越多的数据表明,许多 KRAB-ZFPs 在几种肿瘤类型中的表达发生改变,它们可能作为癌基因或肿瘤抑制因子发挥作用。在此,我们综述了描述各种 KRAB-ZFPs 在癌症中致癌和抑制作用的现有文献。我们重点介绍了它们与临床病理特征和治疗反应的关联,以及它们对癌细胞表型的影响。此外,我们总结了鉴定的上游和下游分子机制,这些机制可能在癌症环境中调控 KRAB-ZFPs 的功能。
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