title: Transcriptional regulation of human mucin gene MUC4 in pancreatic cancer cells.
abstract: The human mucin gene MUC4 is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer and cancer cell lines, while remaining undetectable in the normal pancreas, indicating its important role in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis. The molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of MUC4 gene expression are not fully understood. In this report, we used pancreatic cancer cell line (Bxpc-3) to explore the potential transcription factors regulating MUC4 transcriptional activity. Through promoter screening, overexpressing methods and luciferase reporter studies, we found that transcription factors CREB, Ets-1, Elk-1 and STAT1 can positively regulate MUC4 expression at the promoter and mRNA level. Our findings will be helpful for better understanding the transcriptional regulation of MUC4 in pancreatic cancer cells and identifying key biologically relevant factors that may account for its aberrant expression in pancreatic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Guangzhou Rd. #300, 210029 Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiongfei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zekuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miao
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D055264:Mucin-4 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D050784:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: C115163:CREB1 protein, human; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; C524658:MUC4 protein, human; D055264:Mucin-4; D050784:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-1; D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor; C494079:STAT1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors