Disease relevance of SOX11

• Differential expression of SOX4 and SOX11 in medulloblastoma [1].
• Examination of tissue specimens obtained from malignant gliomas and from normal brain by quantitative real-time PCR (Q-RT-PCR) revealed upregulation of SOX11 in almost all tumor samples (15/16) as compared to the pooled normal brain [2].
• By screening an expression database for genes highly expressed in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), we identified the Pit-Oct-Unc (POU) cooperating transcription factor SOX11 that is known to be crucially involved in brain development [2].
• Sox11 mRNA is increased in gliomas compared with healthy brain tissue, suggesting a role in malignant transformation and/or cell survival [3].

High impact information on SOX11

• Examination of a neuronal gene promoter reveals that Sox4 and Sox11 exert their functions as transcriptional activators [4].
• Interestingly, the capacity of Sox4 and Sox11 to induce the expression of neuronal traits is independent of mechanisms regulating the exit of neural progenitors from the cell cycle [4].
• The 30-bp sequence of the enhancer including these sites (Nes30) showed a nervous system-specific and SOX-POU-dependent enhancer activity in multimeric forms in transfection assays and was utilized in assessing the specificity of the synergism; combinations of either group B1 or group C SOX (SOX11) with class III POU proved effective [5].
• The transcription factor Sox11 is expressed at high levels in developing sensory neurons and injured adult neurons but little is known about its transcriptional targets and function [6].
• We have cloned and characterized the human SOX11 gene using the partial cloning of both human and mouse SOX11 genes and mapped it to chromosome 1p25 [7].

Biological context of SOX11

• While a previous report has determined only a approximately 2 kb of the SOX11 cDNA including the entire open reading frame, our full length cDNA was 8743 bp possessing a long 3' untranslated region [8].
• We conclude that, after downregulation of SOX11 in the adult brain, its expression is reactivated during tumorigenesis and that SOX11 therefore represents a promising novel molecular target for adjuvant therapy of malignant gliomas [2].
• Together, these findings demonstrate a central regulatory role of Sox4 and Sox11 during neuronal maturation and mechanistically separate cell cycle withdrawal from the establishment of neuronal properties [4].

Anatomical context of SOX11

• Identification of a naturally processed T cell epitope derived from the glioma-associated protein SOX11 [9].
• Here, we describe the SOX11-derived peptide LLRRYNVAKV which is capable of inducing human leukocyte antigen-A*0201-restricted and tumor-reactive CTLs [9].
• Analysis of the expression pattern of SOX11 in different normal adult and fetal tissues by multiple tissue dot blot and by a highly sensitive quantitative PCR assay confirmed the selective overexpression of SOX11 in fetal brain tissue [2].

Other interactions of SOX11

• Induction of endogenous L1Hs upon ectopic expression of the SOX11 transcription factor is further demonstrated, thus strengthening the physiological relevance of these new-and highly dispersed-target sites for the otherwise unclassical transcription factors of the SRY family [10].
• An estimation for the origin of grass carp based on the molecular clock using Sox1, Sox3 and Sox11 genes as markers indicates that grass carp (subfamily Leuciscinae) and zebrafish (subfamily Danioninae) diverged approximately 60 million years ago [11].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of SOX11

• Human SOX11 cDNA was mapped to chromosome region 2p25.3 between markers AFMA070WC9 and WI-1412 by radiation hybrid mapping [8].

References