Basic Study
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World J Gastroenterol. May 7, 2022; 28(17): 1781-1797
Published online May 7, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i17.1781
Forkhead Box q1 promotes invasion and metastasis in colorectal cancer by activating the epidermal growth factor receptor pathway
Jin-Jin Zhang, Chang-Xiong Cao, Li-Lan Wan, Wen Zhang, Zhong-Jiang Liu, Jin-Li Wang, Qiang Guo, Hui Tang
Jin-Jin Zhang, Chang-Xiong Cao, Li-Lan Wan, Wen Zhang, Zhong-Jiang Liu, Jin-Li Wang, Qiang Guo, Hui Tang, Yunnan Digestive Endoscopy Clinical Medical Center, Department of Gastroenterology, the First People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province, the Affiliated Hospital of Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650032, Yunnan Province, China
Jin-Jin Zhang, Chang-Xiong Cao, Li-Lan Wan, Wen Zhang, Zhong-Jiang Liu, Jin-Li Wang, Qiang Guo, Hui Tang, Department of Medical Faculty, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650504, Yunnan Province, China
Jin-Jin Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang JJ and Cao CX contributed equally to this work; Tang H and Guo Q designed the project; Cao CX and Zhang JJ analyzed data and wrote the manuscript; Zhang JJ and Wan LL performed qRT-PCR, Elisa, and Western blotting; Zhang W and Wang JL carried out migration assay; Liu ZJ and Tang H analyzed colorectal tissue microarray and survival data; all authors participated in critical revision of the manuscript and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81502556; and Yunnan Digestive Endoscopy Clinical Medical Center Foundation for Health Commission of Yunnan Province, No. 2X2019-01-02.
Institutional review board statement: Our research does not involve humans and animals.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no competing interests.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui Tang, PhD, Professor, Yunnan Digestive Endoscopy Clinical Medical Center, Department of Gastroenterology, the First People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province, the Affiliated Hospital of Kunming University of Science and Technology, No. 157 Jinbi Road, Xishan District, Kunming 650032, Yunnan Province, China. htang1122@aliyun.com
Received: October 18, 2021
Peer-review started: October 18, 2021
First decision: December 12, 2021
Revised: December 31, 2021
Accepted: March 27, 2022
Article in press: March 27, 2022
Published online: May 7, 2022
Processing time: 192 Days and 21.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Invasion and metastasis play important roles in tumorigenesis, resulting in the death of most colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Forkhead Box q1 (FOXQ1) is a well-established oncogene in multiple tumors, including CRC. Our previous study suggested that FOXQ1 positively regulates the expression of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF) and triggers the activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway in CRC. However, the role and mechanism of how FOXQ1 promotes tumorigenesis in CRC by activating the HB-EGF/EGFR pathway remain unexplored. In the present study, our findings demonstrated that the essential role of FOXQ1-induced invasion and metastasis in CRC was related to activation of the HB-EGF/EGFR pathway.