Homeobox C6 ( HOXC6) is a transcription factor that plays an important role in the development of several cancers. However, it is unknown whether HOXC6 regulates cervical cancer progression. In this study, we used quantitative PCR and Western blots to demonstrate that HOXC6 overexpression is associated with cervical cancer progression. These results are also supported by the public RNA-seq data showing that HOXC6 overexpression is correlated with poor patient survival. In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that enhanced HOXC6 expression results in cervical cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, anchorage colony formation, and xenograft tumor growth. Mechanistically, we show that HOXC6 up-regulates BCL2 expression through transcription regulation. Together, these results led us to conclude that overexpression of HOXC6 expression can enhance BCL2-mediated antiapoptotic effects to promote cervical cancer cell cycle progression and proliferation.-Wang, Y., Wang, C., Liu, N., Hou, J., Xiao, W., Wang, H. HOXC6 promotes cervical cancer progression via regulation of Bcl-2.
Keywords: apoptosis; HPV; cell cycle; invasion.