Research progress on the regulation of tumor initiation and development by the forkhead box Q1 gene

Transcription factor forkhead box Q1 (FOXQ1), a member of the forkhead box superfamily, has been involved in various biological processes and plays important roles in tumor initiation and progression. The FOXQ1 protein activated transcription of target genes directly by binding to the promoters of target genes or indirectly by interacting with other transcription factors. FOXQ1 affected the initiation, progression, invasion, and metastasis of many kinds of tumor by promoting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, regulating cell cycle, promoting cell proliferation, regulating senescence-associated inflammation, and activating many cellular signal pathways. In this review, we have focused on the possible molecular mechanisms for FOXQ1 gene in tumor initiation and progression. Medline literature review related to this subject was performed by the electronically retrieval with the keywords "forkhead box Q1" and "tumor" on PubMed for including previous publications, and then, it further reviewed reference articles on the biological function of FOXQ1 gene and target genes transcription directly regulated by FOXQ1.