Hypoxia-induced CTCF mediates alternative splicing via coupling chromatin looping and RNA Pol II pause to promote EMT in breast cancer.
Title | Hypoxia-induced CTCF mediates alternative splicing via coupling chromatin looping and RNA Pol II pause to promote EMT in breast cancer. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2025 |
Authors | Kakani P, Dhamdhere SGanesh, Pant D, Joshi R, Mishra S, Pandey A, Notani D, Shukla S |
Journal | Cell Rep |
Volume | 44 |
Issue | 2 |
Pagination | 115267 |
Date Published | 2025 Feb 04 |
ISSN | 2211-1247 |
Keywords | COL5A1; CP: Cancer; CP: Molecular biology; CRISPR-dCas9-mediated editing; CTCF; EMT; alternative splicing; breast cancer; epigenetics; hypoxia; promoter-exon upstream looping. |
Abstract | Hypoxia influences the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through the remodeling of the chromatin structure, epigenetics, and alternative splicing. Hypoxia drives CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) induction through hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1α), which promotes EMT, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We find that hypoxia significantly increases CTCF occupancy at various EMT-related genes. We present a CTCF-mediated intricate mechanism promoting EMT wherein CTCF binding at the collagen type V alpha 1 chain (COL5A1) promoter is crucial for COL5A1 upregulation under hypoxia. Additionally, hypoxia drives exon64A inclusion in a mutually exclusive alternative splicing event of COL5A1exon64 (exon64A/64B). Notably, CTCF mediates COL5A1 promoter-alternatively spliced exon upstream looping that regulates DNA demethylation at distal exon64A. This further regulates the CTCF-mediated RNA polymerase II pause at COL5A1exon64A, leading to its inclusion in promoting the EMT under hypoxia. Genome-wide study indicates the association of gained CTCF occupancy with the alternative splicing of many cancer-related genes, similar to the proposed model. Specifically, disrupting the HIF1α-CTCF-COL5A1exon64A axis through the dCas9-DNMT3A system alleviates the EMT in hypoxic cancer cells and may represent a novel therapeutic target in breast cancer. |
URL | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39913285/ |
DOI | 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115267 |
Alternate Journal | Cell Rep |
PubMed ID | 39913285 |