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. 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.