Yu Bo, Guo Xiaoqing
Department of General Surgery, The Second People's Hospital of Lanzhou, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Affiliated Hospital of Gansu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
Iran J Basic Med Sci. 2021 Nov;24(11):1561-1567. doi: 10.22038/IJBMS.2021.58396.12969.
Ovarian cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy, ranking as the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among females in the United States. Homeobox D4 (HOXD4) is a transcription factor belonging to the homeobox protein family, which plays a critical role in morphogenesis during embryo development. Here we aimed to study the HOXD4 expression in ovarian serous carcinoma (OSC) and determine its clinical significance.
Real-time quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry targeting human OSC tissues and adjacent ovarian tissues were performed to correlate the patterns of HOXD4 expression with clinical characteristics and survival outcomes. Cell lines and nude mice were used for verifying the role of HOXD4 in OSC.
HOXD4 protein was predominantly expressed in OSC tissues compared with nontumorous tissues. The correlation test demonstrated a significant correlation between HOXD4 with tumor FIGO stage. Univariate and multivariate analyses found that HOXD4 expression was associated with poorer overall survival. Furthermore, high expression of HOXD4 protein was observed in OSC cell lines in vitro. Finally, the oncogenic effect of HOXD4 was confirmed by cellular and xenograft experiments.
HOXD4 protein expression may be associated with a poorer prognosis in OSC. The unfavorable prognostic value of HOXD4 in malignancies and its underlying mechanism are worthy of further investigation.
卵巢癌是最常见的妇科恶性肿瘤，在美国女性癌症相关死亡原因中排名第五。同源盒D4（HOXD4）是一种属于同源盒蛋白家族的转录因子，在胚胎发育过程中的形态发生中起关键作用。在此，我们旨在研究HOXD4在卵巢浆液性癌（OSC）中的表达，并确定其临床意义。
对人OSC组织和相邻卵巢组织进行实时定量PCR和免疫组化，以将HOXD4表达模式与临床特征和生存结果相关联。使用细胞系和裸鼠来验证HOXD4在OSC中的作用。
与非肿瘤组织相比，HOXD4蛋白在OSC组织中主要表达。相关性测试表明HOXD4与肿瘤国际妇产科联盟（FIGO）分期之间存在显著相关性。单因素和多因素分析发现HOXD4表达与较差的总生存期相关。此外，在体外OSC细胞系中观察到HOXD4蛋白的高表达。最后，通过细胞和异种移植实验证实了HOXD4的致癌作用。
HOXD4蛋白表达可能与OSC预后较差相关。HOXD4在恶性肿瘤中的不良预后价值及其潜在机制值得进一步研究。
