HOX and MEINOX in cellular plasticity, fibrosis, and cancer

Figure 1 Organization and collinearity of human HOX gene clusters. This figure illustrates the genomic organization and transcriptional regulation of human HOX gene clusters (HOXA, HOXB, HOXC, HOXD). Each cluster is arranged linearly, displaying protein-coding HOX genes (rectangles), long non-coding RNA genes (rounded rectangles), and microRNA genes (diamonds). The transcriptional direction of genes within each cluster is indicated, highlighting the spatiotemporal collinearity characteristic of HOX genes, whereby genes located more 3’ are expressed earlier in development and in more anterior body segments, while genes positioned towards the 5’ end are expressed later and in progressively posterior regions. This principle, known as the “collinearity” rule, is represented by arrows depicting the relationships between the direction of transcription, developmental timing, and the anteroposterior positioning along the human body axis. Created in BioRender.