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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2008 Jul 11.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Gene Ther. 2006 Feb;13(2):115–124. doi: 10.1038/sj.cgt.7700896

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Potential interaction between two known Egr1 target genes, PTEN and fibronectin achieves a delicate balance between attachment and apoptosis of detached cells (anoikis). It is known that Egr1 directly stimulates the expression and secretion of functional fibronectin leading to RGD-dependent attachment and FAK activation. This pathway activates Akt in other systems thereby inhibiting apoptosis and promoting survival. Cells with decreased attachment properties – a manifestation of transformation - experience relatively increased PTEN-mediated inhibition of Akt and increased apoptosis (anoikis). Thus Egr1 favors attachment and survival of normal cells but apoptosis of abnormal forms with deficient attachment properties.