KLF7 promotes polyamine biosynthesis and glioma development through transcriptionally activating ASL

Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) are zinc-finger transcriptional factors that regulate target gene expression. Recent studies have shown that KLFs play essential roles in cancer development, whereas the function of KLF7 in glioma remains unclear. In this study, we showed that KLF7 was up-regulated in glioma tissues and its expression was inversely correlated with the patients’ survival. Functional experiments demonstrated that KLF7 promoted the proliferation, migration and tumorigenesis of glioma cells. Mechanistically, KLF7 transcriptionally activated argininosuccinate lyase (ASL), which was observed highly expressed in glioma tissues. The biosynthesis of polyamine, a urea cycle metabolite, was enhanced by KLF7 in glioma cells. In addition, ASL contributed to the growth of glioma cells triggered by KLF7. Our findings demonstrate KLF7 as an oncogene and link KLF7 to ASL-mediated polyamine metabolism in glioma. •KLF7 is over-expressed in glioma and is associated with the patients’ survival.•KLF7 promotes the proliferation, growth, migration and tumorigenesis of glioma cells.•KLF7 transcriptionally activates ASL and enhances the biosynthesis of polyamine.•ASL is highly expressed in glioma and it promotes glioma cell proliferation.