Isoform-specific effects of transcription factor TCFL5 on the pluripotency-related genes SOX2 and KLF4 in colorectal cancer development

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a very common life-threatening malignancy. Transcription factor-like 5 (TCFL5) has been suggested to be involved in CRC. Here, we describe the expression of four alternative transcripts of TCFL5 and their relevance in CRC. Complete deletion of all isoforms drastically decreased pro-tumoural properties such as spheroids formation and in vivo tumour growth, although increased migration in CRC cell lines. Overexpression of the two main isoforms, TCFL5_E8 and CHA, had opposite effects: TCFL5_E8 reduced proliferation and spheroids formation, while CHA increased them. TCFL5_E8 reduced in vivo tumour formation, while CHA had no effect. In addition, TCFL5_E8 and CHA have different roles in the regulation of the pluripotency-related genes SOX2 and KLF4. Both isoforms bind directly to their promoters; however, TCFL5_E8 induced SOX2 and reduced KLF4 mRNA levels, whereas CHA did the opposite. Together, our results show that TCFL5 plays an important role in the development of CRC, being however isoform-specific. This work also points to the need to analyse separately TCFL5 isoforms in cancer, due to their different and opposite functions.