Loss of TFF1 is associated with activation of NF-?B-mediated inflammation and gastric neoplasia in mice and humans.

ABSTRACT: Trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes a peptide belonging to the trefoil factor family of protease-resistant peptides. Although TFF1 expression is frequently lost in gastric carcinomas, the tumorigenic pathways this affects have not been determined. Here we show that Tff1-knockout mice exhibit age-dependent carcinogenic histological changes in the pyloric antrum of the gastric mucosa, progressing from gastritis to hyperplasia, low-grade dysplasia, high-grade dysplasia, and ultimately malignant adenocarcinoma. The histology and molecular signatures of gastric lesions in the Tff1-knockout mice were consistent with an inflammatory phenotype. In vivo, ex-vivo, and in vitro studies showed that TFF1 expression suppressed TNF-?-mediated NF-?B activation through the TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1)/I?B kinase (IKK) pathway. Consistent with these mouse data, human gastric tissue samples displayed a progressive decrease in TFF1 expression and an increase in NF-?B activation along the multi-step carcinogenesis cascade. Collectively, these results provide evidence that loss of TFF1 leads to activation of IKK complex-regulated NF-?B transcription factors and is an important event in shaping the NF-?B-mediated inflammatory response during the progression to gastric tumorigenesis.

SUBMITTER: Soutto M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3083788 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature