SOX11-mediated CXCL10/CXCR3 activation promotes neuroendocrine prostate cancer.

Neuroendocrine prostate cancer is an aggressive, therapy-resistant subtype of prostate cancer with unclear underlying molecular mechanisms and limited effective treatments. Through single-cell transcriptomic analysis, we found that SOX11 is specifically expressed in neuroendocrine cell populations. Further studies confirmed that SOX11 promotes neuroendocrine transdifferentiation in prostate cancer via CXCL10/CXCR3 activation, thereby enhancing the migration and invasion abilities of prostate cancer cells. These results suggest that SOX11 may play a central role in driving neuroendocrine prostate cancer progression, which is expected to serve as a candidate factor for subsequent therapeutic exploration. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This study reveals the mechanism by which the SOX11/CXCL10/CXCR3 axis promotes neuroendocrine transdifferentiation of prostate cancer, thereby identifying potential targets for the development of targeted therapeutic strategies against neuroendocrine prostate cancer.