The Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) gene encodes a transcription factor that plays a key role in processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and reprogramming. As a member of the KLF family, KLF4 is characterized by its zinc-finger DNA-binding domain, which enables it to regulate the expression of target genes related to stem cell maintenance, somatic cell reprogramming (e.g., induced pluripotent stem cells, iPSCs), and tissue homeostasis. KLF4 is highly expressed in epithelial tissues and has dual functions, acting as both a tumor suppressor and an oncogene, depending on the cellular context. It regulates cell cycle progression and apoptosis, playing a key role in development, regeneration, and disease.
Human KLF4 Adenoviral Particles are genetically engineered viral vectors designed to efficiently deliver the KLF4 gene into a variety of mammalian cells. These particles are based on a replication-defective adenovirus, which ensures efficient transduction while minimizing cytotoxicity. Adenoviral systems offer many advantages, including high transduction efficiency, the ability to infect both dividing and non-dividing cells, and stable transgene expression. Human KLF4 adenoviral particles are particularly important in research applications such as cell reprogramming, gene therapy, and the study of KLF4 function in cancer, stem cell biology, and tissue engineering. Researchers use these vectors to study the role of KLF4 in cellular mechanisms, disease modeling, and potential therapeutic interventions. For example, they can be used to generate iPSCs, study epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), or explore the impact of KLF4 in cardiovascular and neurological diseases.
Endometrial angiogenesis is essential to maintain good endometrial receptivity. Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a transcription factor that is essential for regulating angiogenesis. Here, researchers found that vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) can form a positive feedback loop with KLF4 to promote proliferation and migration of human endometrial microvascular endothelial cells (HEMECs) and inhibit apoptosis. General control nonrepressible 5 (GCN5) also has a time-dependent response to VEGFA and participates in the KLF4-VEGFA loop. In addition, researchers found that GCN5 is a succinyltransferase that regulates the succinylation of histones and non-histone proteins. GCN5 interacts with KLF4 and is recruited to the KLF4 binding site of the VEGFA promoter to succinylate H3K79, thereby epigenetically initiating gene transcription. For non-histone proteins, GCN5 succinylated KLF4, which was activated by ERK signaling in HEMECs treated with VEGFA, thereby increasing its transcriptional activity. These results suggest that the KLF4-VEGFA positive feedback loop is epigenetically regulated, which contributes to endometrial angiogenesis.
In vitro, HEMECs were co-treated with KLF4 overexpression adenovirus (Ad-KLF4) or VEGFA. KLF4 overexpression further increased PCNA and MMP-9 and decreased Caspase 3 expression by VEGFA (Figure 1A). In contrast, when HEMECs were infected with three KLF4-specific shRNA (sh-KLF4) adenoviruses to block endogenous KLF4 expression (sh-KLF4 2 and sh-KLF4 3 had high knockdown efficiency), VEGFA-induced PCNA and MMP-9 expression and VEGFA-reduced Caspase 3 expression were abolished (Figure 1B-C). In addition, cell immunofluorescence assays showed that KLF4 overexpression promoted Ki67 expression, and the number of Ki67-positive cells decreased after KLF4 knockdown (Figures 1D and 1F). The scratch-wound assay showed that the KLF4 overexpression and VEGFA co-treatment group had stronger migration ability than the Ad group, while the KLF4 knockdown and VEGFA co-treatment group had weaker migration ability than the VEGFA group (Figure 1E and 1G). These results indicate that KLF4 is essential for inducing endometrial angiogenesis by regulating proliferation, migration, and apoptosis caused by VEGFA signaling.
Figure 1. KLF4 mediates VEGFA-induced endometrial angiogenesis. (Cao C, et al., 2022)
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