Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (Jul 2024)

Comprehensive summary: the role of PBX1 in development and cancers

  • Mingsheng Liu,
  • Mingsheng Liu,
  • Mingsheng Liu,
  • Yan Xing,
  • Yan Xing,
  • Yan Xing,
  • Jiufeng Tan,
  • Jiufeng Tan,
  • Jiufeng Tan,
  • Xiaoliang Chen,
  • Xiaoliang Chen,
  • Xiaoliang Chen,
  • Yaming Xue,
  • Yaming Xue,
  • Yaming Xue,
  • Licheng Qu,
  • Licheng Qu,
  • Licheng Qu,
  • Jianchao Ma,
  • Jianchao Ma,
  • Jianchao Ma,
  • Xuefei Jin,
  • Xuefei Jin,
  • Xuefei Jin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2024.1442052
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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PBX1 is a transcription factor that can promote the occurrence of various tumors and play a reg-ulatory role in tumor growth, metastasis, invasion, and drug resistance. Furthermore, a variant generated by fusion of E2A and PBX1, E2A-PBX1, has been found in 25% of patients with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Thus, PBX1 is a potential therapeutic target for many cancers. Here, we describe the structure of PBX1 and E2A-PBX1 as well as the molecular mecha-nisms whereby these proteins promote tumorigenesis to provide future research directions for developing new treatments. We show that PBX1 and E2A-PBX1 induce the development of highly malignant and difficult-to-treat solid and blood tumors. The development of specific drugs against their targets may be a good therapeutic strategy for PBX1-related cancers. Furthermore, we strongly recommend E2A-PBX1 as one of the genes for prenatal screening to reduce the incidence of childhood hematological malignancies.

Keywords