A transcription factor normally associated with androgen receptor activity in prostate cancer has a newly discovered role in controlling lipid biosynthesis, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Nature Genetics.

The transcription factor, called HOXB13, is downregulated in late-stage prostate cancer, unleashing lipid biosynthesis and fueling cancer metastasis, according to Jindan Yu, MD, Ph.D., professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology and senior author of the study.

"HOXB13 has mostly been studied as a gene activator, but our study shows its main function in transcriptional repression of lipid biosynthesis," said Yu, who is also a professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

HOXB13 is a prostate-specific protein that is highly expressed in the prostate during development. It boosts androgen receptor (AR) function, which in turn helps prostate cells grow.

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