ArticleJournal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR2017
HOXB7 accelerates the malignant progression of hepatocellular carcinoma by promoting stemness and epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
Article in Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- A novel regulatory role of microRNA‑5590‑3p in hepatocellular carcinoma via the HOXB2/MYC axis.Oncology reports · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic landscape of Gallbladder cancer reveals altered pathways related to cell cycle and Aurora kinase.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Review
- HOX and MEINOX in cellular plasticity, fibrosis, and cancer.World journal of stem cells · 2025Review
- HOXB7 drives bladder cancer progression via H-Ras/ERK signaling: a potential therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- The role of liver cancer stem cells in hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis.Cancer biology & therapy · 2024Review
- Identification and experimental verification of senescence-related gene signatures and molecular subtypes in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Expression of HOXB7 in the Lung of Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Proof-of-Concept Study.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- A Novel Molecular Classification Method for Glioblastoma Based on Tumor Cell Differentiation Trajectories.Stem cells international · 2023Article
- Cell Cycle-Related Gene SPC24: A Novel Potential Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker for Laryngeal Squamous Cell Cancer.BioMed research international · 2023Article
- Downstream of the HOX genes: Explaining conflicting tumour suppressor and oncogenic functions in cancer.International journal of cancer · 2022Review
- Molecular implications of HOX genes targeting multiple signaling pathways in cancer.Cell biology and toxicology · 2022Review
- HOXB7 acts as an oncogenic biomarker in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Cancer cell international · 2021Article
- DeepVISP: Deep Learning for Virus Site Integration Prediction and Motif Discovery.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2021Article
- Differential and Prognostic Significance of HOXB7 in Gliomas.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Article
- Association of Preoperative NANOG-Positive Circulating Tumor Cell Levels With Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Frontiers in oncology · 2021Article
- Homeobox Genes in Cancers: From Carcinogenesis to Recent Therapeutic Intervention.Frontiers in oncology · 2021Review
- Multiple roles of HOX proteins in Metastasis: Let me count the ways.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2020Review
- CD73 sustained cancer-stem-cell traits by promoting SOX9 expression and stability in hepatocellular carcinoma.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2020Article
- Recent Advances in Liver Cancer Stem Cells: Non-coding RNAs, Oncogenes and Oncoproteins.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2020Review
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8 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundHomeobox B7 (HOXB7) has been identified associated with poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the specific mechanism by which HOXB7 promotes the malignant progression of HCC remains to be determined.
methodsImmunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression level of HOXB7 in 77-paired HCC tissue samples, and the correlation between HOXB7 and HCC prognosis was assessed. The location of HOXB7 was confirmed by immunofluorescence. Cell Titer-Blue assay was used to assess the proliferation of hepatoma cells. The stem-like properties of hepatoma cells were analysed by sphere formation and clone formation assays. The effect of HOXB7 on expression of cancer stem cell markers was evaluated. Transwell and wound-healing assays were performed to estimate the invasion and migration abilities of hepatoma cells. A xenograft tumor model was established in nude mice to assess the role of HOXB7 in tumor growth. Bioluminescence imaging was used to survey the effect of HOXB7 on the metastatic ability of hepatoma cells in vivo.
resultsHigher expression of HOXB7 was detected in HCC tissues compared with noncancerous tissues and significantly associated with poor prognosis of HCC. In addition, HOXB7 knockdown suppressed the cell proliferation, clone formation, sphere formation, invasion and migration of hepatoma cells in vitro; conversely, these biological abilities of hepatoma cells were enhanced by HOXB7 overexpression. Moreover, the cancer stem cell markers EPCAM and NANOG were up-regulated by HOXB7. The role of HOXB7 in promoting tumor growth and metastasis was verified in vivo. Further investigation revealed that c-Myc and Slug expression was elevated by HOXB7 and the AKT pathway was activated.
conclusionOverexpression of HOXB7 was significantly correlated with poor prognosis of HCC. HOXB7 up-regulated c-Myc and Slug expression via the AKT pathway to promote the acquisition of stem-like properties and facilitate epithelial-mesenchymal transition of hepatoma cells, accelerating the malignant progression of HCC.
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