Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. May 24, 2025; 16(5): 103830
Published online May 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i5.103830
Homeobox C6 plays an oncogenic role in bladder cancer
Ding-Jin Lu, Hai-Rong Wang, You-Sheng Xu, Hai-Bo Huang, Qi-Gang Zhong, Yuan-Ning Luo, Jian-Feng Qi, Hong-Chao Wu, Jin-Ye Pei, Kun Zhang, Chao-Xiong Xu, Tian-Xian Wang, Wei Zhang, Yu-Hong Zhou, Zhi-Guang Huang, Fu-Bo Wang
Ding-Jin Lu, Hai-Rong Wang, You-Sheng Xu, Hai-Bo Huang, Qi-Gang Zhong, Yuan-Ning Luo, Jian-Feng Qi, Hong-Chao Wu, Jin-Ye Pei, Kun Zhang, Department of Urology, Beihai People's Hospital, Beihai 536000, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Chao-Xiong Xu, Tian-Xian Wang, Wei Zhang, Yu-Hong Zhou, Zhi-Guang Huang, Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Fu-Bo Wang, Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Key Laboratory for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, University Engineering Research Center of Digital Medicine and Healthcare, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Fu-Bo Wang, Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Co-first authors: Ding-Jin Lu and Hai-Rong Wang.
Co-corresponding authors: Zhi-Guang Huang and Fu-Bo Wang.
Author contributions: Lu DJ and Wang HR jointly conceptualized the experimental framework and executed all in vitro investigations. They conducted comprehensive data interpretation and co-authored the materials & methods along with results sections. They collaborated with Huang ZG in finalizing manuscript revisions during the peer review process. Lu DJ and Wang HR won the co-first authorship due to their indispensable contributions to the research. Xu YS, Huang HB, Zhong QG, Luo YN, Qi JF, Wu HC, Pei JY, and Zhang K designed and implemented patient inclusion criteria, performed immunohistochemical analyses, and conducted statistical validation of experimental outcomes. They also finished critical manuscript components including the introduction and discussion sections. Xu CX, Wang TX, Zhang W, and Zhou YH collected globally accessible qualifying datasets, implemented batch effect correction protocols, and conducted downstream statistical analysis. Huang ZG and Wang FB proposed the initial hypothesis, designed the overall research plan. Huang ZG also supervised all analytical workflows, coordinated manuscript submission, and directed iterative peer-review revisions. Wang FB orchestrated research timelines through progress monitoring, conducted literature-based hypothesis refinement and revised the final manuscript.
Supported by the Science and Technology Major Project of Guangxi, No. AA22096030 and No. AA22096032; the Yongjiang Program of Nanning; the Creative Research Development from The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, No. Medical Excellence Award 202303; Guangxi Medical University Undergraduate Education and Teaching Reform Project, No. 2024XJGYC20; Guangxi Medical University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program Project, No. 202310598002X, No. 202310598041, No. 202410598039X, and No. 202410598044; and the “Future Academic Star” of the Guangxi Medical University, No. WLXSZX24096.
Institutional review board statement: This study utilized human tissue specimens and was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, No. 2025-E0077.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The datasets analyzed in this study were obtained from the database of GEO, ArrayExpress, SRA, BioProject, and TCGA. These data are publicly available and can be accessed without restrictions upon publication of this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fu-Bo Wang, PhD, Professor, Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Key Laboratory for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, University Engineering Research Center of Digital Medicine and Healthcare, Guangxi Medical University, No. 22 Shuangyong Road, Nanning 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. wangfubo@gxmu.edu.cn
Received: December 9, 2024
Revised: February 10, 2025
Accepted: March 28, 2025
Published online: May 24, 2025
Processing time: 164 Days and 5.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Homeobox C6 (HOXC6) is an HOX family gene that has an oncogenic effect in various malignancies. Our study showed the increased expression levels of HOXC6 at the protein and mRNA levels. Down-regulated HOXC6 considerably limited the function of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of bladder cancer (BLCA) cells, elevated cell apoptosis, and triggered the G0/G1 phase blockade. HOXC6 may influence the cellular functions of BLCA by regulating the expression of the target gene timeless circadian regulator (TIMELESS), with the evidence of positive correlation between HOXC6 and TIMELESS and the binding peak signals for HOXC6 in the promoter region of TIMELESS.