학술논문

The Egr-1 transcription factor directly activates PTEN during irradiation-induced signalling.
Document Type
Article
Source
Nature Cell Biology. Dec2001, Vol. 3 Issue 12, p1124. 5p.
Subject
*TUMOR suppressor genes
*GENETIC transcription
*TRANSCRIPTION factors
*IRRADIATION
Language
ISSN
1465-7392
Abstract
The PTEN tumour suppressor and pro-apoptotic gene is frequently mutated in human cancers. We show that PTEN transcription is upregulated by Egr-1 after irradiation in wild-type, but not egr-1-/-, mice in vivo. We found that Egr-1 specifically binds to the PTEN 5′ untranslated region, which contains a functional GCGGCGGCG Egr-1-binding site. Inducing Egr-1 by exposing cells to ultraviolet light upregulates expression of PTEN messenger RNA and protein, and leads to apoptosis. egr-1-/- cells, which cannot upregulate PTEN expression after irradiation, are resistant to ultraviolet-light-induced apoptosis. Therefore, Egr-1 can directly regulate PTEN, triggering the initial step in this apoptotic pathway. Loss of Egr-1 expression, which often occurs in human cancers, could deregulate the PTEN gene and contribute to the radiation resistance of some cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]