FOXC2 is a prognostic biomarker and contributes to the growth and invasion of human hepatocellular carcinoma

Homology modeling of Forkhead box protein C2: identification of potential inhibitors using ligand and structure-based virtual screening

Overexpression of Forkhead box protein C2 (FOXC2) has been associated with different types of carcinomas. FOXC2 plays an important role in the initiation and maintenance of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, which is essential for the development of higher-grade tumors with an enhanced ability for metastasis. Thus, FOXC2 has become a therapeutic target for the development of anticancer drugs. MC-1-F2, the only identified experimental inhibitor of FOXC2, interacts with the full length of FOXC2. However, only the DNA-binding domain (DBD) of FOXC2 has resolved crystal structure. In this work, a three-dimensional (3D) structure of the full-length FOXC2 using homology modeling was developed and used for structure-based drug design (SBDD). The quality of this 3D model of the full-length FOXC2 was evaluated using MolProbity, ERRAT, and ProSA modules. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was also carried out to verify its stability. Ligand-based drug design (LBDD) was carried out to identify similar analogues for MC-1-F2 against 15 million compounds from ChEMBL and ZINC databases. 792 molecules were retrieved from this similarity search. De novo SBDD was performed against the full-length 3D structure of FOXC2 through homology modeling to identify novel inhibitors. The combination of LBDD and SBDD helped in gaining a better insight into the binding of MC-1-F2 and its analogues against the full length of the FOXC2. The binding free energy of the top hits was further investigated using MD simulations and MM/GBSA calculations to result in eight promising hits as lead compounds targeting FOXC2.

Differential Gene Expression Profiling in Alveolar Echinococcosis Identifies Potential Biomarkers Associated With Angiogenesis

Background

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a worldwide zoonosis caused by Echinococcus multilocularis. Alveolar echinococcosis is a severe chronic parasitic disease that exhibits a tumor-like growth, with the potential for invasion and distant metastasis; however, the molecular mechanism underlying this condition remains unclear.

Methods

Transcriptome analyses were performed to detect differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in samples from patients with AE with invasion and distant metastasis. The results were further verified by immunohistochemistry.

Results

A total of 1796 DEGs were identified, including 1742 upregulated and 54 downregulated DEGs. A subsequent functional analysis showed that the significant DEGs were involved in the angiogenesis process. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the reliability of the transcriptomic data.

Conclusions

These results suggest that angiogenesis is a possible mechanism underlying the tumor-like biological behavior observed during E multilocularis infection. Genes related to this process may play important roles in AE invasion and distant metastasis.

Oncogenic functions of the FOXC2 transcription factor: a hallmarks of cancer perspective

Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is a fundamental determinant of molecular and cellular function, and epigenetic reprogramming in the context of cancer has emerged as one of the key enabling characteristics associated with acquisition of the core hallmarks of this disease. As such, there has been renewed interest in studying the role of transcription factors as epigenetic regulators of gene expression in cancer. In this review, we discuss the current state of knowledge surrounding the oncogenic functions of FOXC2, a transcription factor that frequently becomes dysregulated in a variety of cancer types. In addition to highlighting the clinical impact of aberrant FOXC2 activity in cancer, we discuss mechanisms by which this transcription factor becomes dysregulated in both tumor and tumor-associated cells, placing particular emphasis on the ways in which FOXC2 promotes key hallmarks of cancer progression. Finally, we bring attention to important issues related to the oncogenic dysregulation of FOXC2 that must be addressed going forward in order to improve our understanding of FOXC2-mediated cancer progression and to guide prognostic and therapeutic applications of this knowledge in clinical settings.

FOXC2 as a prognostic marker and a potential molecular target in patients with human solid tumors

Background

Forkhead Box Protein C2 (FOXC2) belongs to the Forkhead/Wing-helix family. The regulatory role of this transcription factor in physiological function and carcinogenic activity has been proven in subsequent investigations. However, there is still scarcity of evidence on the relationship between FOXC2 expression and prognosis in human solid tumors. We conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the role of FOXC2 as a prognosis factor and a possible target marker in human solid tumors.

Methods

PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane library database were all searched methodically. Eligible publications on FOXC2 in human solid tumors were gathered and reviewed. The effect sizes were calculated using pooled hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (ORs) with the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). Statistical analysis was conducted with Stata SE12.0.

Results

This meta-analysis comprised 3,267 patients from 20 studies covering a variety of solid tumors. Increased FOXC2 expression was related to shorter overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.73–2.42). High expression of FOXC2 is associated with lymph node metastases (OR = 3.33, 95% CI: 2.65–4.19), TNM stage (OR = 3.09, 95% CI: 2.00–4.78), and age (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.06–1.50), according to the pooled ORs. However, no significant association was observed between the high expression of FOXC2 and sex, tumor size or tumor differentiation.

Conclusion

Increased expression of FOXC2 is associated with unfavored OS, lymph node metastases, TNM stage, and age. FOXC2 is a promising prognostic marker and a novel target marker in human solid tumors.

FOXC2 Promotes Vasculogenic Mimicry in Ovarian Cancer

FOXC2 is a forkhead family transcription factor that plays a critical role in specifying mesenchymal cell fate during embryogenesis. FOXC2 expression is associated with increased metastasis and poor survival in various solid malignancies. Using in vitro and in vivo assays in mouse ovarian cancer cell lines, we confirmed the previously reported mechanisms by which FOXC2 could promote cancer growth, metastasis, and drug resistance, including epithelial-mesenchymal transition, stem cell-like differentiation, and resistance to anoikis. In addition, we showed that FOXC2 expression is associated with vasculogenic mimicry in mouse and human ovarian cancers. FOXC2 overexpression increased the ability of human ovarian cancer cells to form vascular-like structures in vitro, while inhibition of FOXC2 had the opposite effect. Thus, we present a novel mechanism by which FOXC2 might contribute to cancer aggressiveness and poor patient survival.

E2F3 promotes liver cancer progression under the regulation of circ-PRKAR1B

Liver cancer is one of the most lethal malignant tumors in the world. The high recurrence and mortality rate make it urgent for scientists and clinicians to find new targets for better treatment of liver cancer. Here, we found that circ-PRKAR1B expression was increased in the paired intrahepatic metastasis sample through high-throughput sequencing. Further experiments also confirmed its high expression both in carcinoma and metastasis when compared to the paired para-carcinoma and the paired carcinoma, respectively. Mechanism study showed that circ-PRKAR1B could promote liver cancer progression through the miR-432-5p/E2F3 pathway, and microRNA-432-5p could directly target the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of E2F3 mRNA to suppress its translation, thereby influencing liver cancer cell invasion and migration capacities. Clinical data obtained by using online databases based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) samples and the clinicopathological data of liver cancer patients who underwent surgery in our hospital in the past 2 years also confirmed the significance of circ-PRKAR1B/miR-432-5p/E2F3 signaling in liver cancer progression. Animal experiments also indicated that targeting this newly identified signaling by overexpressing microRNA-432-5p could suppress the progression of liver cancer. Together, our study suggests that circ-PRKAR1B plays an important role in the regulation of liver cancer progression, and targeting this new circ-PRKAR1B/miR-432-5p/E2F3 signaling may help us find new treatment strategies to better suppress liver cancer progression.

FOXP4 promotes laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma progression through directly targeting LEF‑1

Forkhead box (FOX) proteins are multifaceted transcription factors that have been shown to be involved in cell cycle progression, proliferation and metastasis. FOXP4, a member of the FOX family, has been implicated in diverse biological processes in tumor initiation and progression. However, the molecular mechanisms of FOXP4 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remain unknown. In the present study, differentially expressed transcripts in transforming growth factor‑β‑treated TU177 cells were screened using microarrays and it was found that FOXP4 was significantly upregulated. The high expression of FOXP4 was detected in LSCC tissues and cells, and predicted poor prognosis. The role of FOXP4 in laryngeal cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion was determined by gain‑ and loss‑of‑function assays. Besides, FOXP4 was demonstrated to participate in the epithelial‑mesenchymal transition process at the mRNA and protein levels. Mechanically, FOXP4 directly bound to the promoter of lymphoid enhancer‑binding factor 1 and activated Wnt signaling pathway, which was confirmed via chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays. Consequently, these findings provided novel mechanisms of FOXP4 in LSCC progression, which may be considered as potential therapeutic and prognostic targets for LSCC.