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 membersin 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 mostof the members in the FOX family remain unknown. In the present study, the expression of 39 FOX genes in48 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 excellentcandidates in efforts aimed to give medical treatment for cancers at the genetic level. The results also indicatedthat different FOX genes may have the synergy or antagonistics effects in the same cancers. The study providesclues for further functional analysis of FOX genes, especially for the pleiotropic biological functions and crosstalkof FOX genes in human cancers.