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Pioneer factors in hormone-dependent cancers

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 12, pages 381–385 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Pioneer factors are a special class of transcription factor that can associate with compacted chromatin to facilitate the binding of additional transcription factors. The function of pioneer factors was originally described during development; more recently, they have been implicated in hormone-dependent cancers, such as oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer and androgen receptor-positive prostate cancer. We discuss the importance of pioneer factors in these specific cancers, the discovery of new putative pioneer factors and the interplay between these proteins in mediating nuclear receptor function in cancer.

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Figure 1: Mode of putative ER pioneer factor function.
Figure 2: Pioneer factor properties that need to be met to constitute a therapeutic target in hormone-dependent cancer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank G. Brown for help with data analysis and figures, and H. R. Ali for immunohistochemical images. The authors thank members of the Carroll laboratory and D. Odom for reading the manuscript. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of The University of Cambridge, Cancer Research UK and Hutchison Whampoa Limited.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. and at the Department of Oncology, Kamila M. Jozwik and Jason S. Carroll are at Cancer Research UK, Li Ka Shing Centre, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0XZ, UK.,

    Kamila M. Jozwik & Jason S. Carroll

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  1. Kamila M. Jozwik
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Correspondence to Jason S. Carroll.

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Glossary

Aromatase inhibitors

Therapies used to treat oestrogen receptor+ patients with breast cancer by decreasing circulating levels of oestrogenic compounds.

Bicalutamide

An anti-androgen used for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Luminal breast cancer

Oestrogen receptor+ breast cancer originating from the luminal cells.

Pioneer factors

Proteins that physically interact with compacted chromatin, to rapidly facilitate the binding of additional proteins.

Tamoxifen

Anti-oestrogen drug used for the treatment of oestrogen receptor (ER)+ patients with breast cancer. Tamoxifen binds to and blocks the ligand-binding pocket of ER.

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Jozwik, K., Carroll, J. Pioneer factors in hormone-dependent cancers. Nat Rev Cancer 12, 381–385 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3263

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