HOXA11 promotes lymphatic metastasis of gastric cancer via transcriptional activation of TGFβ1

Zhenyuan Li; Tailiang Lu; Zhian Chen; Xiang Yu; Lingzhi Wang; Guodong Shen; Huilin Huang; Zhenhao Li; Yingxin Ren; Weihong Guo; Yanfeng Hu

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107346

HOXA11 promotes lymphatic metastasis of gastric cancer via transcriptional activation of TGFβ1

iScience. 2023 Jul 13;26(8):107346. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107346. eCollection 2023 Aug 18.

Authors

Affiliation

¹ Department of General Surgery, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine for Gastrointestinal Tumor, Nanfang Hospital, the First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, P.R. China.

Abstract

Most gastric cancer (GC) patients with early stage often have no lymph node (LN) metastases, while LN metastases appear in the advanced stage. However, there are some patients who present with early stage LN metastases and no LN metastases in the advanced stage. To explore the deeper molecular mechanisms involved, we collected clinical samples from early and advanced stage GC with and without LN metastases, as well as metastatic lymph nodes. Herein, we identified a key target, HOXA11, that was upregulated in GC tissues and closely associated with lymphatic metastases. HOXA11 transcriptionally regulates TGFβ1 expression and activates the TGFβ1/Smad2 pathway, which not only promotes EMT development but also induces VEGF-C secretion and lymphangiogenesis. These findings provide a plausible mechanism for HOXA11-modulated tumor in lymphatic metastasis and suggest that HOXA11 may represent a potential therapeutic target for clinical intervention in LN-metastatic gastric cancer.

Keywords: Cancer; Cell biology; Molecular biology; Omics.