BRD7: a novel tumor suppressor gene in different cancers.

BRD7 (bromodomain 7), also known as celtix-1, was first identified in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells in 2000. BRD7 is a crucial component of both functional p53 and BRCA1 (breast cancer 1, early onset) pathways. Recently, the BRD7 tumor suppressor status has been fully established. Previous studies demonstrated that BRD7 was downregulated in human breast cancer and the downregulation often associates with tumor progression. The expression of BRD7 was downregulated in various cancers, including breast cancer, NPC, gastric cancer, colorectal carcinoma, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer. Moreover, BRD7 inhibited cancer cell growth and metastasis and promote apoptosis in vitro and in vivo via downregulating AKT pathway. In addition, BRD7 may regulate many signaling pathways including ras-raf-MEK-ERK and RB/E2F. In this review, we provide an overview of current knowledge concerning the role of BRD7 in tumor development and progression. To our knowledge, this is the first review about the role of this novel tumor suppressor gene BRD7in tumor development and progression.