Loss of HOXB3 Correlates with the Development of Hormone Receptor Negative Breast Cancer

Overview

Journal PeerJ

Specialties Biology
Environmental Health
General Medicine

Date 2020 Nov 26

PMID 33240685

Citations 10

Authors

Lizhe Zhu

Shibo Yu

Siyuan Jiang

Guanqun Ge

Yu Yan

Yuhui Zhou

Ligang Niu

Jianjun He

Yu Ren

Bin Wang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The homeobox gene family, encoding a specific nuclear protein, is essential for embryonic development, differentiation, and homeostasis. The role of the HOXB3 protein varies in different tumors. This study aims to explore the role of the HOXB3 gene in breast cancer.

Method: Differentially expressed genes were screened by analyzing metastatic breast cancer gene chip data from TCGA and GEO databases. The function of the selected HOXB3 gene was also analyzed in different databases and through molecular biology methods, such as qRT-PCR, western blot and IF to verify bioinformatics findings.

Results: Both bioinformatics analyses and western blot showed that HOXB3 was lost in breast cancer compared to normal breast tissue. Survival analysis also showed that lower expression of HOXB3 was associated with poor prognosis. Bioinformatics analyses further showed that HOXB3 was positively correlated with hormone receptors. Metascape for GO analysis of GEO data provided possible mechanisms that HOXB3 could positively regulate cell adhesion, inhibit cell proliferation and activate immune response in breast cancer; moreover, GSEA included several cancer-associated pathways.

Conclusion: In summary, HOXB3 expression was decreased in breast cancer, and it was associated with poor prognosis. It might become a new biomarker to predict prognosis of breast cancer.

Citing Articles

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Yin G, Zheng S, Zhang W, Dong X, Qi L, Li Y Zhejiang Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban. 2024; 53(1):47-57.

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Khair L, Hayes K, Tutto A, Samant A, Ferreira L, Nguyen T bioRxiv. 2023; .

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