Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 13, 2025

Utilizing Functional Genomics Screening to Identify Potentially Novel Drug Targets in Cancer Cell Spheroid Cultures
07:48

Utilizing Functional Genomics Screening to Identify Potentially Novel Drug Targets in Cancer Cell Spheroid Cultures

Published on: December 26, 2016

11.7K

Functional characterization of SOX2 as an anticancer target

Shizhen Zhang1, Xiufang Xiong1, Yi Sun2

  • 1The Cancer Institute of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310029, China.

Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
|July 31, 2020
PubMed

Insights

SOX2 is crucial for stem cells but often overexpressed in cancers, promoting tumor growth and resistance. Developing SOX2 inhibitors is challenging but vital for effective cancer therapy.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cancer Biology

Background:

  • SOX2 is a key pluripotency factor regulating stem cell functions.
  • SOX2 dysregulation, via gene amplification and overexpression, is common in human cancers.
  • Overexpressed SOX2 correlates with poor patient survival and promotes cancer progression.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the regulatory mechanisms of SOX2.
  • To elucidate SOX2's role in tumorigenesis and drug resistance.
  • To discuss current and future strategies for SOX2 inhibitor development.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of SOX2's role in normal physiology and cancer.
  • Analysis of SOX2 regulatory networks and signaling pathway crosstalk.
  • Examination of drug discovery efforts targeting SOX2.

Main Results:

  • SOX2 levels are tightly controlled by transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational mechanisms.
  • SOX2 drives cancer proliferation, invasion, stemness, and drug resistance.
  • Targeting SOX2 is a promising but challenging anticancer strategy due to its nature as a transcription factor.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding SOX2 regulation is key to its role in cancer.
  • Developing specific SOX2 inhibitors is critical for advancing cancer therapeutics.
  • Further research into SOX2 inhibitor discovery holds significant therapeutic potential.

More Related Videos

Methods for Evaluating the Role of c-Fos and Dusp1 in Oncogene Dependence10:09

Methods for Evaluating the Role of c-Fos and Dusp1 in Oncogene Dependence

Published on: January 7, 2019

8.5K
Testing Targeted Therapies in Cancer using Structural DNA Alteration Analysis and Patient-Derived Xenografts10:27

Testing Targeted Therapies in Cancer using Structural DNA Alteration Analysis and Patient-Derived Xenografts

Published on: July 25, 2020

7.7K

Related Concept Videos

Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes01:05

Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes

Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
9.3K
Loss of Tumor Suppressor Gene Functions01:12

Loss of Tumor Suppressor Gene Functions

Tumor suppressor genes are normal genes that can slow down cell division, repair DNA mistakes, or program the cells for apoptosis in case of irreparable damage. Hence, they play an essential role in preventing the proliferation of damaged cells.
When the tumor suppressor genes develop mutations or are lost, cells start growing out of control, leading to cancer. However, a single functional copy of the tumor suppressor gene is enough for the cells to maintain their normal functions and cell...
5.7K
Targeted Cancer Therapies02:57

Targeted Cancer Therapies

The targeted cancer therapies, also known as “molecular targeted therapies,” take advantage of the molecular and genetic differences between the cancer cells and the normal cells. It needs a thorough understanding of the cancer cells to develop drugs that can target specific molecular aspects that drive the growth, progression, and spread of cancer cells without affecting the growth and survival of other normal cells in the body.
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
8.5K
Pleiotropy01:33

Pleiotropy

Pleiotropy is the phenomenon in which a single gene impacts multiple, seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits. For example, defects in the SOX10 gene cause Waardenburg Syndrome Type 4, or WS4, which can cause defects in pigmentation, hearing impairments, and an absence of intestinal contractions necessary for elimination. This diversity of phenotypes results from the expression pattern of SOX10 in early embryonic and fetal development. SOX10 is found in neural crest cells that form melanocytes,...
42.9K
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression03:03

mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression

The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
4.5K
Abnormal Proliferation02:23

Abnormal Proliferation

Under normal conditions, most adult cells remain in a non-proliferative state unless stimulated by internal or external factors to replace lost cells. Abnormal cell proliferation is a condition in which the cell's growth exceeds and is uncoordinated with normal cells. In such situations, cell division persists in the same excessive manner even after cessation of the stimuli, leading to persistent tumors. The tumor arises from the damaged cells that replicate to pass the damage to the...
5.0K