SIX4 acts as a master regulator of genes associated with the malignant phenotype of non-small cell lung cancer cells

In this work, we evaluated SIX4, a member of the Homeobox gene, acts as a master regulator of oncogenes with the explicit function in the malignant phenotype of NSCLC cells. And SIX4 is a potential candidate of molecular marker for NSCLC. Overall design: In this study, the expression of the SIX4 gene in tumors and matching normal lung tissues from 38 NSCLC patients was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Subsequently, the SIX4 gene was stably transfected into two human NSCLC cell lines (A549 and PC9) using the lentiviral system. The malignancy-associated phenotype, including proliferation, migration, and invasion, was assessed in the SIX4-transfected cells and controls using carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE), growth curves, wound healing, and Matrigel assays. To further elucidate the mechanism underlying the biological function of SIX4, RNA-seq was performed to check the mRNA expression. Bioinformatics tools were utilized to analyze the contribution of SIX4 co-expressed genes to the malignant phenotype of NSCLC cells. This dataset includes the RNA-seq data.