The cross-regulation between SOX15 and Wnt signaling pathway

Abstract

WNT/B-CATENIN signaling pathway is one of the key dysregulated pathways in different tumor types, which regulate the expression of several genes involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. This pathway is being modulated by sex-determining region Y-box (SOX) family genes. The functions of these genes are suggested as tumor suppressor or oncogene. SOX genes transcribe a group of transcription factors that play important roles in embryonic development and carcinogenesis. Among them, SOX15 is recently been identified as a novel tumor suppressor in pancreatic and esophagus cancers with a potential role in modulating Wnt/b-catenin signaling. This report summarizes the current knowledge about Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway and its cross talk with SOX15 with particular emphasis on the value of SOX gene expression as prognostic or predictive biomarker in cancer.

Keywords: Sox15; WNT/B-CATENIN pathway; biomarker; cancer.