title: Comprehensive expression analysis suggests functional overlapping of human FOX transcription factors in cancer.
abstract: Forkhead-box (FOX) transcription factors comprise a large gene family that contains more than 50 members in man. Extensive studies have revealed that they not only have functions in control of growth and development, but also play important roles in different diseases, especially in cancer. However, biological functions for most of the members in the FOX family remain unknown. In the present study, the expression of 39 FOX genes in 48 kinds of cancer was mined from the Gene Expression Atlas database of European Bioinformatics Institute. The analysis results showed that some FOX genes demonstrate overlapping expression in various cancers, which suggests particular biological functions. The pleiotropic features of the FOX genes make them excellent candidates in efforts aimed to give medical treatment for cancers at the genetic level. The results also indicated that different FOX genes may have the synergy or antagonistics effects in the same cancers. The study provides clues for further functional analysis of FOX genes, especially for the pleiotropic biological functions and crosstalk of FOX genes in human cancers.
authors.affiliation: Nantong University, Nantong, China E-mail : slj.1226@163.com.
authors.forename: Ya-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Feng-Ting
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Xu
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ai-Xiang
authors.initials: AX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jing-Jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Li-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D030541:Databases, Genetic; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors