Elevated expression of ELK1 promotes breast cancer cell growth and correlates with poor prognosis of breast cancer patients

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common tumor in women and poses a serious threat to women’s physical and mental health. The ETS-like gene 1 (ELK1), upregulated in various malignancies, serves as a transcription regulatory factor. This study primarily investigates the biological functions and prognostic significance of ELK1 in breast cancer. We conducted an analysis of ELK1 expression in breast cancer and adjacent tissues using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and validated these findings with clinical specimens. Additionally, we employed siRNA transfection, proliferation and apoptosis assays to elucidate the roles of ELK1 in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, we assessed the correlations between ELK1 expression and the tumor microenvironment, as well as tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs), utilizing the ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms. Finally, we used Kaplan-Meier plots and COX regressions to identify prognostic factors, and developed a predictive alignment diagram to evaluate the prognostic significance of ELK1 in breast cancer. A marked increase in ELK1 expression is evident in breast cancer tissues (P<0.01). Experimental findings demonstrate that silencing ELK1 suppresses proliferation and promotes apoptosis in breast cancer cells. ELK1 plays a pivotal role in regulating the immune microenvironment of breast cancer. Furthermore, the alignment diagram indicates that ELK1 may serve as an independent prognostic factor for breast cancer patients. Our study reveals that ELK1 exhibits high expression level in breast cancer tissues and is associated with disease progression and poor prognosis.