Octamer transcription factor 1 (OCT1) is a transcriptional factor reported to be a poor prognostic factor in various cancers. However, the clinical value of OCT1 in breast cancer is not fully understood. In the present study, an immunohistochemical study of OCT1 protein was performed using estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer tissues from 108 patients. Positive OCT1 immunoreactivity (IR) was associated with the shorter disease-free survival (DFS) of patients (p = 0.019). Knockdown of OCT1 inhibited cell proliferation in MCF-7 breast cancer cells as well as its derivative long-term estrogen-deprived (LTED) cells. On the other hand, the overexpression of OCT1 promoted cell proliferation in MCF-7 cells. Using microarray analysis, we identified the non-structural maintenance of chromosomes condensin I complex subunit H (NCAPH) as a novel OCT1-taget gene in MCF-7 cells. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that NCAPH IR was significantly positively associated with OCT1 IR (p < 0.001) and that positive NCAPH IR was significantly related to the poor DFS rate of patients (p = 0.041). The knockdown of NCAPH inhibited cell proliferation in MCF-7 and LTED cells. These results demonstrate that OCT1 and its target gene NCAPH are poor prognostic factors and potential therapeutic targets for patients with ER-positive breast cancer.
Keywords: breast cancer; cell cycle; non-structural maintenance of chromosomes condensin I complex subunit H (NCAPH); octamer transcription factor 1 (OCT1); proliferation.