The clinicopathological significance of ZNF10 in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.

The aim of this study was to clarify the clinicopathological features and role of zinc finger protein 10 (ZNF10) in breast invasive ductal cancer (IDC). Our data first showed that ZNF10 expression was higher in 8 pairs of fresh breast IDC and breast cancer cell lines compared with their respective adjacent non-tumor breast tissues. ZNF10 expression was significantly higher in IDC compared with DCIS and fibroadenoma of the breast. ZNF10 expression was significantly associated with patients' age, tumor stage, and breast cancer molecular subtype. ZNF10 knockdown inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle progression, cell migration, and invasion but induced apoptosis. ZNF10 knockdown also suppressed the tumorigenicity of breast cancer in vivo. The underlying mechanism study showed that ZNF10 regulated the β-catenin signaling pathway in breast cancer. ZNF10 might bind to the region (nucleotides -300 to +100) of the β-catenin promoter. In conclusion, our results first suggest that ZNF10 promotes the carcinogenesis and progression of breast IDC via the β-catenin signaling pathway. Targeting ZNF10 might be a novel treatment strategy for breast cancer.