FOXK2 Transcription Factor and Its Emerging Roles in Cancer

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 11; no. 3; p. 393
• Main Authors: Nestal de Moraes, Gabriela, Carneiro, Luciana da Torre, Maia, Raquel Ciuvalschi, Lam, Eric Wing-Fai, Sharrocks, Andrew David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20.03.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Autophagy; Binding sites; Cancer; Cell cycle; Cell growth; Cell proliferation; Cell survival; Chromatin; Cytokines; DNA damage; Fibroblasts; Forkhead protein; Gene expression; Genomes; Kinases; Metabolism; Metastases; Phosphorylation; Proteins; Review; Roles; Signal transduction; Transcription factors; Tumors; FOXK2 transcription factor; cancer; forkhead box; transcriptional activity
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers11030393

Forkhead box (FOX) transcription factors compose a large family of regulators of key biological processes within a cell. FOXK2 is a member of FOX family, whose biological functions remain relatively unexplored, despite its description in the early nineties. More recently, growing evidence has been pointing towards a role of FOXK2 in cancer, which is likely to be context-dependent and tumour-specific. Here, we provide an overview of important aspects concerning the mechanisms of regulation of FOXK2 expression and function, as well as its complex interactions at the chromatin level, which orchestrate how it differentially regulates the expression of gene targets in pathophysiology. Particularly, we explore the emerging functions of FOXK2 as a regulator of a broad range of cancer features, such as cell proliferation and survival, DNA damage, metabolism, migration, invasion and metastasis. Finally, we discuss the prognostic value of assessing FOXK2 expression in cancer patients and how it can be potentially targeted for future anticancer interventions.