As a master regulator of embryonic morphogenesis, homeodomain-containing gene 10 (HOXC10) has been found to promote progression of human cancers and indicate poor survival outcome. Therefore, we concentrate on elucidating the role of HOXC10 in progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In our study, the expression of HOXC10 was significantly increased in human OSCC samples and was significantly correlated with TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. Upregulation of HOXC10 indicated a poor overall survival of OSCC patients according to the Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Furthermore, HOXC10-knockdown dramatically suppressed migration, invasion, and expression of N-Cadherin, Vimentin and Snail, as well as increased E-cadherin level both in vivo and in vitro. Bioinformatics and cellular study further confirmed that HOXC10 may promote invasion and migration of OSCC cells by regulating the WNT/epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling pathway. These findings suggest that HOXC10 plays a pivotal role in the metastasis of OSCC and highlight its usefulness as a potential prognostic marker or therapeutic target in human OSCC.
Keywords: HOXC10; WNT10B, oral squamous cell carcinoma, epithelial-mesenchymal transition.