FOXK1 facilitates cell proliferation through regulating the expression of p21, and promotes metastasis in ovarian cancer

// Li Li 1, * , Miao Gong 1, * , Yu Zhao 1 , Xiujun Zhao 1 and Quanhai Li 2 1 Department of Histology and Embryology, Hebei Medical University, Hebei, China 2 Department of Immunology, Hebei Medical University, Hebei, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Quanhai Li, email: LiQh0018f@yeah.net Keywords: FOXK1, proliferation, p21, metastasis, ovarian cancer Received: May 10, 2017      Accepted: June 28, 2017      Published: July 31, 2017 ABSTRACT Ovarian cancer is one of the most common cancer in the world. FOX family plays essential function in multiple cancers. In our work, FOXK1 was found to up-regulate in ovarian cancer tissue samples and cell lines; moreover, the expression of FOXK1 was correlated with tumor size, metastasis and poorly prognosis. To evaluate the function of FOXK1 in ovarian cancer, we performed colony formation analysis, CCK-8 assay and cell cycle analysis to determine the effect of FOXK1 on cell proliferation and cell cycle. We found that FOXK1 obviously improved the ability of cell proliferation through promoting cell cycle. Furthermore, ChIP assay and luciferase reporter assay indicated that FOXK1 facilitated cell cycle through regulating the expression of p21, but FOXK1 had no effect on cell apoptosis. In addition, wound healing assay and transwell invasion analysis demonstrated that FOXK1 promoted migration and invasion in ovarian cancer. In conclusion, our work indicate FOXK1 plays a key function in the ovarian cancer, it promotes cell proliferation and metastasis. FOXK1 serves as a novel molecular therapy target in ovarian cancer.