SOX11 holds mantle cell lymphoma’s key to home by David Dominguez-Sola Blood Volume 130(4):389-391 July 27, 2017 ©2017 by American Society of Hematology

Balsas et al show how SOX11 expression in MCL (here marked with a brown nuclear staining) activates a gene expression program mediating cell adhesion and homing in lymph nodes and bone marrow. Balsas et al show how SOX11 expression in MCL (here marked with a brown nuclear staining) activates a gene expression program mediating cell adhesion and homing in lymph nodes and bone marrow. This gene program controls the expression of CXCR4 and FAK, which are critical mediators of cell-cell interactions driving the migration and homing of MCL cells into these tissues. SOX11 depletion, or lack of SOX11 expression as it occurs in a subset of indolent, leukemic non-nodal MCLs (blue-only cells), prevents these interactions, causing the redistribution of MCL cells to peripheral blood, away from homing tissue niches. PI3K, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinases. David Dominguez-Sola Blood 2017;130:389-391 ©2017 by American Society of Hematology