Krüppel-like factor 2 suppresses human gastric tumorigenesis through inhibiting PTEN/AKT signaling

Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) are a large family of DNA-binding transcriptional regulators that affect basic cellular processes such as growth, survival, migration and differentiation and serve a complicated function in cancers. KLF2, one member of the KLF family, is dysregulated in many tumors. However, the specific role of KLF2 in human gastric tumorigenesis is unknown. Here we show that the expression of KLF2 protein was lower in gastric tumors when compared with adjacent normal tissue. Moreover, downregulated KLF2 expression in primary gastric tumor was closely correlated with patients’ survival. Various cell experiments showed that ectopic KLF2 expression suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells. Moreover, KLF2 overexpression remarkably enhanced cell apoptosis and induced cell cycle arrest. Impaired expression of KLF2 markedly promoted cell growth in vitro and significantly expanded tumor size in vivo. Mechanically, the mRNA and protein level of PTEN was reduced in KLF2 deficient cells and xenograft tumors, suggesting that PTEN/AKT signaling was involved in the gastric tumor inhibitory effect of KLF2. Administration of AKT inhibitor AZD5363 or Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in KLF2 knockdown or ectopic expression cell lines, respectively, substantially reversed the proliferation phenotype. Collectively, our findings provide clinical evidence and a potential mechanism supporting that KLF2 suppresses human gastric tumorigenesis through inhibiting the PTEN/AKT axis.