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Overexpression of HOXB7 protein reduces sensitivity of oral cancer cells to chemo-radiotherapy

Cancer Gene Therapy volume 23, pages 419–424 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

The upregulation of homeobox-B7 (HOXB7) in cancers has been reported. However, its role in oral cancer progression remains to be investigated. In current study, our data revealed that reconstitution of HOXB7 expression by transient transfection resulted in increased cell growth, migration and invasion in vitro. In addition, apoptosis and clonogenic assay data showed that overexpression of HOXB7 decreased the sensitivity of oral cancer cells to vincristine-induced apoptosis of HSC-4 and KB/VCR cells. Furthermore, overexpression of HOXB7 promoted oral cancer cells' migration and invasion through activation of TGFβ2/SMAD3 signaling pathway. Moreover, forced expression of HOXB7 increased Bcl-2 to Bax ratio, which would promote cell survival and induce drug and radiotherapy resistance. Altogether, our findings support the role of HOXB7 in the progression of oral cancer. Therefore, HOXB7 potentially can be a therapeutic target for oral cancer.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by research funds from the Guangzhou Science and Technology Project of Pharmaceutical Health (20141A011010 and 20161A011010). We thank Prof. Yu-Jui Yvonne Wan for critically reading the manuscript and for their insightful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Blood Transfusion, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Z Yuan, X Chen, H Yang & Y Wei

  2. Department of Radiology, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    D Chen

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  1. Z Yuan
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  2. D Chen
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  3. X Chen
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Correspondence to Y Wei.

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Yuan, Z., Chen, D., Chen, X. et al. Overexpression of HOXB7 protein reduces sensitivity of oral cancer cells to chemo-radiotherapy. Cancer Gene Ther 23, 419–424 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/cgt.2016.55

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