The role of tumor suppressor gene SOX11 in prostate cancer

Abstract

SOX genes play an important role in a number of developmental processes. The transcription factor SOX11 is one of the members of the SOX family emerging as important transcriptional regulators. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of SOX11 in prostate cancer (PCa) and its expression pattern and clinical significance. The gene expression of SOX11 in human PCa tissues compared with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) tissues was detected using real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) analysis and immunohositochemistry. SOX11 overexpression cell model was used to examine the role of SOX11 in cell growth and metastasis in vitro. The results showed that the positive rate of SOX11 staining was 16.67 % (10/60) in cases of prostatic carcinoma and 81.67 % (49/60) in cases of BPH, and the difference of SOX11 expression between PCa and BPH was statistically significant (P < 0.001). SOX11 mRNA level was lowly expressed in PCa cell lines compared to RWPE-1. SOX11 overexpression suppresses PCa cell migration and invasion. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that SOX11 could suppress cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of PCa in vitro.

SOX11: a potentially useful marker in surgical pathology: a systematic analysis of SOX11 expression in epithelial and non‐epithelial tumours

“…Using IHC, reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) or Western blot, SOX11 has been found to be down‐regulated in several malignant epithelial tumours, such as prostate, gastric and nasopharyngeal carcinomas via hypermethylation, and in these epithelial tumours SOX11 functions as a tumour suppressor gene that is associated with tumour growth and invasion . In this study, SOX11 expression was completely absent in all the aforementioned carcinomas, as well as most other adenocarcinomas and carcinomas that originated from the squamous, urinary and thymic epithelia using IHC (Table ).…”

Promoter hypermethylation of SOX11 correlates with adverse clinicopathological features of human prostate cancer

“…The only available experimental study suggested the potential tumour suppressor function of SOX11 in prostate carcinoma cell lines (Yao et al . ). The authors also found significant downregulation of SOX11 and low protein expression in tissue specimens (Yao et al .…”

“…The authors also found significant downregulation of SOX11 and low protein expression in tissue specimens (Yao et al . ). We hypothesized that epigenetic mechanism may be responsible for SOX11 silencing in human prostate cancer.…”

“…They also established a SOX11 overexpression model and found a tumour suppressor role of the gene in prostate cancer cells (Yao et al . ). So far there are no confirmational studies on SOX11 in prostate tumours.…”

Sex-determining region Y box-containing genes: regulators and biomarkers in gynecological cancers

“…However, the multiple functions of SOX genes in the development of these various systems alerted researchers to their potential roles in the development of diseases, especially cancers 12 . Most recent studies of SOX genes focused on their involvement in gastric cancer, lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and prostate cancer 2-4,28,29 . Studies indicated that most SOX genes played their roles in these cancers through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, as the so-called ‘canonical’ Wnt pathway mediated by β-catenin 12,13 .…”