Role of EGR1 in vasculogenic mimicry of MDA-MB-231 cells

Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is an intriguing phenomenon observed in tumor masses, in which cancer cells organize themselves into capillary-like channels that closely resemble the structure and function of blood vessels. Although VM is believed to contribute to alternative tumor vascularization, the detailed regulatory mechanisms controlling these cellular processes remain poorly understood. Our study aimed to investigate the role of Early Growth Response 1 (EGR1) in regulating VM in aggressive cancer cells, specifically MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cells. To identify the genes that regulated by EGR1, we examined the gene expression profile of control shRNA- or shEGR1-transfected MDA-MB-231 cells using an Agilent human whole genome microarray. Additionally, TNF-a was treated to obtain information about cytokine-dependent transcriptomic changes.