Role of HOXC10 in Cancer

Abstract

The HOXC10 gene, a member of the HOX genes family, plays crucial roles in mammalian physiological processes, such as limb morphological development, limb regeneration, and lumbar motor neuron differentiation. HOXC10 is also associated with angiogenesis, fat metabolism, and sex regulation. Additional evidence suggests that HOXC10 dysregulation is closely associated with various tumors. HOXC10 is an important transcription factor that can activate several oncogenic pathways by regulating various target molecules such as ERK, AKT, p65, and epithelial mesenchymal transition-related genes. HOXC10 also induces drug resistance in cancers by promoting the DNA repair pathway. In this review, we summarize HOXC10 gene structure and expression as well as the role of HOXC10 in different human cancer processes. This review will provide insight into the status of HOXC10 research and help identify novel targets for cancer therapy.

HOXC10 promotes nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell proliferation and migration by regulating PI3K/AKT pathway

“…However, the relationship between HOXC10 and the clinical indicators of NPC patients requires further investigation. HOXC10 over-expression enhances tumor proliferation, recrudescence, invasiveness, and drug resistance [5]. Our present study also shows that NPC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration were promoted during high HOXC10 expression but were suppressed by low HOXC10 expression.…”

“…In NPC, HOXC6 is associated with poor patient survival [14], and HOXC8 inhibits tumor growth by regulating the glycolytic pathway [15]. Aligning with the oncogenic role of HOXC10 in various tumors [5], our present study found that HOXC10 also promotes NPC cell proliferation and metastasis. We found that HOXC10 expression was elevated in NPC cells.…”

“…We found that HOXC10 expression was elevated in NPC cells. High HOXC10 expression is positively correlated with poor patient prognosis and poor tumor pathological staging [5]. Therefore, HOXC10 may also function as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker of NPC.…”

“…There are four distinct clusters of HOX genes, which are HOXA, HOXB, HOXC, and HOXD. Homeobox C10 (HOXC10) belongs to the HOXC cluster and functions as an oncogene in various tumors [5]. For example, HOXC10 is up-regulated in colorectal cancer [6], and high HOXC10 expression is correlated with a poor prognosis for basal-like breast cancer [7].…”

MiR-4739 inhibits the malignant behavior of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells via the homeobox C10/vascular endothelial growth factor A/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT pathway

“…These results support the hypothesis that HOXC10 (a HOX gene family transcription factor) is directly regulated by miR-4739. The HOXC10/PI3K/AKT pathway has been evaluated previously [ 46 ]. HOXC10 was identified as an oncogene that promotes malignant phenotypes by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway in esophageal cancer [ 20 ].…”