Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

HOXC10 promotes nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell proliferation and migration by regulating PI3K/AKT pathway

Liping Wu¹, Guohong Qian² , Yuqing Zheng³, Huizhen Zheng⁴

¹Department of Otolaryngology, Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou University, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province 313000, China; ²Department of Otolaryngology, Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province 313000, China; ³School of Engineering, Huzhou University, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province 313000, China; ⁴Department of Otolaryngology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Shanghai University (Wenzhou People's Hospital), Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.

For correspondence:- Guohong Qian Email: Qianguohong_666@163.com Tel:+865722555591

Accepted: 29 July 2022 Published: 28 August 2022

Citation: Wu L, Qian G, Zheng Y, Zheng H. HOXC10 promotes nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell proliferation and migration by regulating PI3K/AKT pathway. Trop J Pharm Res 2022; 21(8):1595-1600 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v21i8.3

© 2022 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the role of homeobox C10 (HOXC10) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods: Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assays were conducted to determine NPC cell proliferation. Cell migration and invasion were assessed using a Transwell assay, while western blot was used to investigate the mechanism of action involved in HOXC10-mediated NPC.

Results: HOXC10 levels were significantly elevated in NPC cells (p < 0.001). Over-expression of HOXC10 significantly increased NPC cell viability (p < 0.05) and proliferation. However, silencing HOXC10 reduced NPC cell proliferation. HOXC10 knockdown suppressed NPC cell migration and invasion. NPC expression of phosphorylated phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT) proteins were up-regulated after HOXC10 over-expression but were down-regulated upon silencing HOXC10 (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: HOXC10 knockdown reduces NPC cell proliferation and metastasis by inactivating PI3K/AKT pathway, and therefore, can potentially be developed for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Keywords: HOXC10, Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Cell proliferation, Cell migration, Invasion, PI3K/AKT