A short deletion in the DNA-binding domain of STAT3 suppresses growth and progression of colon cancer cells

In this study, we investigated the effect of a short deletion in the DNA-binding domain of STAT3 (STAT3(del)) on the transcriptional activation of STAT3 target genes and its relationship with colon carcinogenesis. We used the CRISPR-CAS9 gene editing system to delete a short sequence encoding amino acids 400-411 in the DNA-binding domain (amino acid sequence: 317-567) from STAT3 gene in SW480, SW620 and HCT116 colon cancer cells. ChIP sequencing analysis showed that STAT3(del) occupancy was significantly reduced in 1029 genes and significantly increased in 475 genes compared to wild-type STAT3. The mutation altered the DNA motifs recognized by STAT3(del) as compared to the wild-type STAT3. We observed a strong correlation between expression of the STAT3 target genes and the loss or gain of STAT3(del) binding to their promoters. CCK-8, wound healing, and TUNEL assays showed reduced proliferation, migration, and survival of SW480, SW620 and HCT-116 cells expressing STAT3(del) as compared to the corresponding controls. These findings demonstrate that a short deletion in the DNA-binding domain of STAT3 alters its genome-wide DNA-binding and transcriptional profile of STAT3-target proteins, and suppresses the growth, progression and survival of colon cancer cells.