TEAD1 enhances proliferation via activating SP1 in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common type of gastrointestinal cancer. However, up to date, the specific mechanism for CRC proliferation remains unclear. Transcriptional enhancer activator domain 1 (TEAD1) is a transcription factor belongs to the TEAD family, which plays an important role in cancers progression. Here, we investigated the role of TEAD1 in CRC, and found that overexpression of TEAD1 was proved to increase colorectal cancer cells proliferation, whereas, knockdown of TEAD1 reduces the growth of cancer cells by BrdU assay, cell cycle analysis and MTT assay. Furthermore, we performed luciferase assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay to investigate the underlying mechanism of TEAD1 in CRC system, and observed that TEAD1 could enhance the expression levels of SP1, by directly binding to its promoter. In summary, we provided evidence for a novel mechanism regulating growth and proliferation in colorectal cancer.