Glioma angiogenesis is boosted by ELK3 activating the HIF-1$$\alpha$$/VEGF-A signaling axis

Abstract

Abstract Background Clinical studies have shown that first-line use of anti-angiogenetic therapy can prolong progression-free survival but little progress has been made in extending the overall survival of the patients. We explored the role of ELK3 in glioma angiogenesis to improve and design more efficacious therapies. Methods A tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry analysis were used to determine the expression of ELK3 protein in 400 glioma patients. Cell proliferation, metastasis, cell cycle, and apoptosis were monitored in U87 and U251 cells using CCK-8, EdU, transwell assays, and flow cytometry. A tube-formation assay, a rat aorta ring sprouting assay, and a matrigel plug assay were performed to examine the antiangiogenic activity of ELK3. An ELISA, Western blot, and correlation analysis of the CGGA dataset were used to detect the association between ELK3 and VEGF-A or ELK3 and HIF-1$$\alpha$$ α . Besides, orthotopic transplantation in nude mice and histopathological and immunological analysis of in vitro tumors were used to explore the effect of ELK3 on tumor progression and median survival. Results ELK3 was upregulated in glioma tissues and associated with a poor prognosis. In vitro, ELK3 promoted cell proliferation and cell cycle progression, induced metastasis, and suppressed apoptosis. Then, silencing ELK3 inhibited VEGF-A expression and secretion by facilitating HIF-1$$\alpha$$ α degradation via ubiquitination. Finally, knockdown ELK3 inhibited tumor progression and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, as well as prolonged nude mice’s median survival. Conclusions Our findings first evidenced that ELK3 is crucial for glioma because it promotes angiogenesis by activating the HIF-1$$\alpha$$ α /VEGF-A signaling axis. Therefore, we suggest that ELK3 is a prognostic marker with a great potential for glioma angiogenesis and ELK3-targeted therapeutic strategies might hold promise in improving the efficacy of anti-angiogenic therapies.