Concurrent down-regulation of Egr-1 and gelsolin in the majority of human breast cancer cells

A growing body of evidence suggests that early growth response-1 (Egr-1), a transcription factor, may function as a tumor suppressor. The aim of this study was to gain more evidence to support the role of Egr-1 in the suppression of cancer cell growth and to examine the potential correlation between Egr-1 and gelsolin. Materials and Methods: Histochemical staining coupled with breast cancer tissue arrays were used to examine the expression levels of Egr-1 and gebolin. Reporter assays and gel shift were used to study the transcriptional activity of Egr-1 on the regulation of gelsolin. Results: Our data showed that most normal mammary tissues expressed high levels of Egr-1, while the majority of breast cancer tissues expressed very small amounts of Egr-1. The expression pattern of Egr-1 in human breast cancer tissues was highly correlated with gelsolin expression. Induction of Egr-1 by serum stimulation accompanied the increase of gelsolin expression. In cells lacking the induction of Egr-1 in response to serum stimulation, gebolin expression remained unchanged. Furthermore, gebolin promoter activity was profoundly reduced in Egr-1 null mouse embryonic fibroblasts compared to Egr-1 wild-type mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Gel shift experiments indicated that Egr-1 can directly bind to the gelsolin promoter. Conclusion: Our results suggest that Egr-1 may be an important breast cancer marker and that an as yet uncharacterized pathway involved in Egr-1 and gelsolin expression exists which leads to breast cancer cell development.