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Multifaceted roles of HSF1 in cancer

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) is the master regulator of the heat shock response. Accumulating evidence shows that HSF1 is overexpressed in a variety of human cancers, is associated with cancer aggressiveness, and could serve as an independent diagnostic or prognostic biomarker. In this review, we will provide an overview of the multifaceted roles of HSF1 in cancer, with a special focus on the four underlying molecular mechanisms involved. First, HSF1 regulates the expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) including HSP90, HSP70, and HSP27. Second, HSF1 regulates cellular metabolism, including glycolysis and lipid metabolism. Third, HSF1 serves as a regulator of different signaling pathways, such as HuR-HIF-1, Slug, protein kinase C (PKC), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), PI3K-AKT-mTOR, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Finally, HSF1 regulates microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Overall, HSF1 plays many important roles in cancer via regulating cell proliferation, anti-apoptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration, invasion, and metastasis and may be a potential therapeutic target for human cancers.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Ming Tan (Mitchell Cancer Institute, University of South Alabama) for helping to revise our manuscript. The authors acknowledge financial support for the projects supported by National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (81272907, J1103604) and the project 2012-1707-7-7 sponsored by the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, West China School of Preclinical and Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China

    Sufang Jiang, Kailing Tu, Qiang Fu & Yuhua Zhao

  2. Mitchell Cancer Institute, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, 36604, USA

    David C. Schmitt

  3. Department of Anatomy, West China School of Preclinical and Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China

    Lan Zhou

  4. Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400010, China

    Na Lu

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  1. Sufang Jiang
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Correspondence to Yuhua Zhao.

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Jiang, S., Tu, K., Fu, Q. et al. Multifaceted roles of HSF1 in cancer. Tumor Biol. 36, 4923–4931 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3674-x

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