A replenishable source of insulin-producing cells has the potential to cure type 1 diabetes. Attempts to culture and expand pancreatic β-cells in vitro have resulted in their transition from insulin-producing epithelial cells to mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with high proliferative capacity but devoid of any hormone production. The aim of this study was to determine whether the transcription...

Purpose:Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a zinc-fingerprotein that plays important roles in stem cellsandthedevelopmentofgastriccancers.However, theroleofKLF4 inprimary lungcancer is unknown. The purpose of this study is to determine possible roles of KLF4 in lung cancer. Experimental Design: The KLF4 expression in primary lung cancer tissues and casematched normal lung tissueswere determinedbyp...

Purpose: Tumor differentiation is a behavioral index for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and a prognostic factor for patients with HCC who undergo orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). However, the molecular basis for HCC differentiation and prognostic value of the underlying molecules that regulate HCC differentiation are unclear. In this study, we defined a potential driver pathway for HCC d...

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumor, and the frequent acquisition of chemoresistance is often an obstacle to achieving favorable outcomes during chemotherapy. Recently, Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) has been shown to be associated with chemotherapy resistance in a few tumors; however, the involvement of KLF4 in chemotherapy resistance in osteosarcoma cells remains unknow...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) caused by renal fibrosis is an important public health concern. It is therefore necessary to understand the molecular pathogenesis of renal fibrosis in order to develop novel therapeutic strategies. KLF4 is the most extensively studied factor among the various members of the Krüppel-like factor (KLF) family of zinc finger-containing transcription factors. Many studi...

KLF4 is a transcription factor that is highly expressed in the gastrointestinal tract. Previously we have demonstrated that KLF4 represses HDC promoter activity in a gastric cell line through both an upstream Sp1 binding GC box and downstream gastrin responsive elements. However, the mechanism by which KLF4 inhibits HDC promoter is not well defined. In the current study, by using yeast two-hybr...

Epithelial cells of the small intestine are the site of zinc absorption. Intestinal uptake of zinc is inversely proportional to the dietary supply of this essential micronutrient. The mechanism responsible for this adaptive differential in apical zinc transport is not known. The zinc transporter Zip4 (Slc39a4) is essential for adequate enteric zinc uptake. In mice, Zip4 expression is upregulate...

Klf4 is a transcription factor of the family of Kruppel-like factors and plays important roles in stem cell biology; however, its function during embryogenesis is unknown. Here, we report the characterization of a Klf4 homologue in Xenopus laevis during embryogenesis. Klf4 is transcribed both maternally and zygotically and the transcript is ubiquitous in embryos during germ-layer formation. Klf...

Altered DNA methylation status is associated with human diseases and cancer; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. We previously identified many human transcription factors, including Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4), as sequence-specific DNA methylation readers that preferentially recognize methylated CpG (mCpG), here we report the biological function of mCpG-dependent gene ...

In response to ionizing radiation-induced injury, the normally quiescent intestinal stem cells marked by BMI1 participate in the regenerative response. Previously, we established a protective role for Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) in the intestinal epithelium where it reduces senescence, apoptosis, and crypt atrophy following γ-radiation-induced gut injury. We also described a pro-proliferative ...