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Hypoxia‐induced ELF3 promotes tumor angiogenesis through IGF1/IGF1R
Author(s) -
Seo Seung Hee,
Hwang SooYeon,
Hwang Seohui,
Han Sunjung,
Park Hyojin,
Lee YunSil,
Rho Seung Bae,
Kwon Youngjoo
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.15252/embr.202152977
Subject(s) - angiogenesis , cancer research , hif1a , gene silencing , carcinogenesis , transcription factor , vascular endothelial growth factor , biology , vascular endothelial growth factor a , hypoxia inducible factors , microbiology and biotechnology , neovascularization , cancer , genetics , vegf receptors , gene
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most lethal gynecological cancers despite a relatively low incidence. Angiogenesis, one of the hallmarks of cancer, is essential for the pathogenesis of EOC, which is related to the induction of angiogenic factors. We found that ELF3 was highly expressed in EOCs under hypoxia and functioned as a transcription factor for IGF1. The ELF3‐mediated increase in the secretion of IGF1 and VEGF promoted endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and EOC angiogenesis. Although this situation was much exaggerated under hypoxia, ELF3 silencing under hypoxia significantly attenuated angiogenic activity in endothelial cells by reducing the expression and secretion of IGF1 and VEGF. ELF3 silencing attenuated angiogenesis and tumorigenesis in ex vivo and xenograft mouse models. Consequently, ELF3 plays an important role in the induction of angiogenesis and tumorigenesis in EOC as a transcription factor of IGF1. A detailed understanding of the biological mechanism of ELF3 may both improve current antiangiogenic therapies and have anticancer effects for EOC.