Knockdown of FOXR2 suppresses the tumorigenesis, growth and metastasis of prostate cancer.

Fork-head box R2 (FOXR2), a member of FOX protein family, was reported to play important roles in the development and progression of cancers. However, the expression and function of FOXR2 in prostate cancer remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of FOXR2 in prostate cancer and cancer progression including the molecular mechanism that drives FOXR2-mediated oncogenesis. Our results showed that FOXR2 was overexpressed in prostate cancer cell lines. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that knockdown of FOXR2 significantly repressed the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of prostate cancer cells. Furthermore, the in vivo experiments indicated that knockdown of FOXR2 significantly attenuated prostate cancer growth. Finally, knockdown of FOXR2 significantly down-regulated the protein expression levels of β-catenin, cyclinD1 and c-Myc in DU-145 cells. Taken together, our results demonstrated for the first time that FOXR2 plays a critical role in cell proliferation and invasion, at least in part, through inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway during prostate cancer progression. Thus, FOXR2 may be an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of prostate cancer.