Yao X, Hu XY, Tan HF, Tang JF, Zhang R, Zhou CF. Novel regulatory network of the TGF-β/ZEB1/LMO7 axis in colorectal cancer metastasis. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(37): 119058 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.119058]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ce-Fan Zhou, PhD, Professor, School of Life and Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Research, National “111” Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Hubei University of Technology, No. 28 Nanli Road, Wuhan 430068, Hubei Province, China. cefan@hbut.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
editorial
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Yao X, Hu XY, Tan HF, Tang JF, Zhang R, Zhou CF. Novel regulatory network of the TGF-β/ZEB1/LMO7 axis in colorectal cancer metastasis. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(37): 119058 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.119058]
Xia Yao, Xue-Yuan Hu, Hong-Fei Tan, Jing-Feng Tang, Rui Zhang, Ce-Fan Zhou, School of Life and Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Research, National “111” Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, Hubei Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Rui Zhang and Ce-Fan Zhou.
Author contributions: Yao X wrote the original draft; Zhang R, Zhou CF, and Tang JF contributed to the conceptualization, writing, review, and editing of the manuscript; Hu XY and Tan HF provided some valuable opinions; Zhou CF and Zhang R contributed equally to this work as co-corresponding authors; and all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China, No. 2023YFC2507904; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 32270768 and No. 82273970; Innovation Group Project of Hubei Province, No. 2023AFA026; The Key Cultivation Project of Hubei Province for Science and Technology, No. 2024DJA037; and National Natural Science Foundation of Hubei, No. 2025AFA085.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Ce-Fan Zhou, PhD, Professor, School of Life and Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Research, National “111” Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Hubei University of Technology, No. 28 Nanli Road, Wuhan 430068, Hubei Province, China. cefan@hbut.edu.cn
Received: January 19, 2026 Revised: February 2, 2026 Accepted: February 27, 2026 Published online: October 7, 2026 Processing time: 226 Days and 21.6 Hours
Abstract
Colorectal cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide and is characterized by high genetic heterogeneity and poor prognosis. Bai et al report a significant finding in the World Journal of Gastroenterology: LIM domain only protein 7 (LMO7), transcriptionally activated by the transforming growth factor-β/zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 axis, promotes colorectal cancer metastasis by regulating cell adhesion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The primary strength of this study lies in the identification of LMO7 as an important downstream effector of this key pathway. However, while the study establishes a regulatory hierarchy, it does not deeply interrogate the underlying molecular mechanisms, such as the precise control of LMO7 by zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 or the functional consequences for adhesion molecules like E-cadherin. This research provides a solid conceptual foundation, but its translational promise hinges on future studies that move beyond correlation to offer mechanistic validation and functional insights that establish causality.
Core Tip: Bai et al identified the transforming growth factor-β/zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1/LIM domain only protein 7 (LMO7) axis in colorectal cancer. Their work establishes LMO7 as a key downstream effector of this axis, showing that it significantly promotes colorectal cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis in vivo. Significantly, LMO7 expression correlates positively with adverse clinicopathological features. Based on this foundational discovery, future research should further investigate the functional implications of LMO7’s subcellular localization, the regulatory dynamics of this pathway, and the identity of its downstream effector molecules. Such efforts are crucial for constructing a more comprehensive molecular framework.
