Oncogenic functions of the cancer-testis antigen SSX on the proliferation, survival, and signaling pathways of cancer cells.

ABSTRACT: SSX is a transcription factor with elusive oncogenic functions expressed in a variety of human tumors of epithelial and mesenchymal origin. It has raised substantial interest as a target for cancer therapy since it elicits humoral responses and displays restricted expression to cancer, spermatogonia and mesenchymal stem cells. Here, we investigated the oncogenic properties of SSX by employing a RNA interference to knock-down the endogenous expression of SSX in melanoma and osteosarcoma cell lines. Depletion of SSX expression resulted in reduced proliferation with cells accumulating in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. We found that the growth promoting and survival properties of SSX are mediated in part though modulation of MAPK/Erk and Wnt signaling pathways, since SSX silencing inhibited E

SUBMITTER: D'Arcy P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4005730 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature