Epigenetically Induced Silence Of Sox10 Promotes Tumor Proliferation And Invasion In Bladder Cancer

Epigenetic alteration induced loss function of the SOX10 has been associated with different types of human cancers. However, the epigenetic regulation and molecular function of SOX10 in bladder cancer remain unknown. In this study we investigate the role of SOX10 in the progression of bladder cancer. SOX10 expression was analyzed in 50 paired bladder cancer and adjacent non-tumor tissues. Decreased SOX10 was found in 38% (19/50) of bladder cancer and was correlated with lymph node metastasis. Pharmacologic demethylation reactivated SOX10 expression along with concomitant promoter demethylation in bladder cancer cell lines. Cellular function experiments revealed that restoration of SOX10 inhibited cell proliferation, invasion and migration. Our results suggest that SOX10 may function as a tumor suppressor gene and provide new insight into the molecular mechanisms leading to bladder cancer.