Nilay Shah and Saraswati Sukumar are at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA.
Nat Rev Cancer. 2010 May;10(5):361-71. doi: 10.1038/nrc2826. Epub 2010 Apr 1.
Hox genes, a highly conserved subgroup of the homeobox superfamily, have crucial roles in development, regulating numerous processes including apoptosis, receptor signalling, differentiation, motility and angiogenesis. Aberrations in Hox gene expression have been reported in abnormal development and malignancy, indicating that altered expression of Hox genes could be important for both oncogenesis and tumour suppression, depending on context. Therefore, Hox gene expression could be important in diagnosis and therapy.
Hox 基因是同源盒超家族的一个高度保守亚群，在发育过程中发挥着关键作用，调节包括细胞凋亡、受体信号转导、分化、运动和血管生成在内的众多过程。Hox 基因表达异常已在异常发育和恶性肿瘤中报道，表明 Hox 基因表达的改变可能对肿瘤发生和肿瘤抑制都很重要，具体取决于具体情况。因此，Hox 基因表达在诊断和治疗中可能很重要。
