HOXA13 is a potential GBM diagnostic marker and promotes glioma invasion by activating the Wnt and TGF-β pathways

Homeobox ( HOX) genes, including HOXA13, are involved in human cancer. We found that HOXA13 expression was associated with glioma grade and prognosis. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that most of the HOXA13-associated genes were enriched in cancer-related signaling pathways and mainly involved in the regulation of transcription. We transfected four glioma cell lines with Lenti-si HOXA13. HOXA13 increased cell proliferation and invasion and inhibited apoptosis. HOXA13 decreased beta-catenin, phospho-smad2, and phospho-smad3 in the nucleus and increased phospho-beta-catenin in the cytoplasm. Furthermore, downregulation of HOXA13 in orthotopic tumors decreased tumor growth. We suggest that HOXA13 promotes glioma progression in part via Wnt- and TGF-beta-induced EMT and is a potential diagnostic biomarker for glioblastoma and an independent prognostic factor in high-grade glioma.