SOX4 inhibits GBM cell growth and induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest through Akt-p53 axis

BACKGROUND: SOX4 is a transcription factor required for tissue development and differentiation in vertebrates. Overexpression of SOX4 has been reported in many cancers including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), however, the underlying mechanism of actions has not been studied. In this study, we investigated the role of SOX4 in GBM. METHODS: Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to assess the association between SOX4 expression levels and survival times in primary GBM samples. Cre/lox P system was used to generate gain or loss of SOX4 in GBM cells, and microarray analysis uncovered the regulation network of SOX4 in GBM cells. RESULTS: High SOX4 expression was significantly associated with good prognosis of primary GBMs. SOX4 inhibited the growth of GBM cell line LN229, A172G and U87MG, partly via the activation of p53-p21 signaling and down-regulation of phosphorylated AKT1. Gene expression profiling and subsequent gene ontology analysis showed that SOX4 influenced several key pathways including the Wnt/ beta-catenin and TGF-beta signaling pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that SOX4 acts as a tumor suppressor in GBM cells by induce cell cycle arrest and inhibiting cell growth. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12883-014-0207-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.