SLC11A1 gene expression changes and colon adenocarcinoma: An update of potential biomarkers and therapeutic applications
SLC11A1 gene expression changes and colon adenocarcinoma: An update of potential biomarkers and therapeutic applications
AmirArsalan Aghabozorgizadeh,1Fatemeh Foroutan Moghadam,2,*
1. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran 2. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
Introduction: Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers that occurs in men and women. Both environmental and genetic factors are involved in the occurrence of this cancer. Colon cancer usually occurs in people over the age of 50. Also, the presence of a history of colon cancer in one family can increase the probability of colon cancer in other family members. Environmental factors that increase the risk of colon cancer include obesity, high consumption of red meat, tobacco and alcohol. Based on studies, it is estimated that by 2030, new cases of colon cancer will exceed 2.2 million people and the number of deaths from this cancer will reach 1.1 million people. The most common type of colon cancer is colon adenocarcinoma (COAD), which occurs mainly in the intestinal mucosa. Colon adenocarcinoma usually grows in the intestinal duct and then spreads to nearby organs. This type of tumor is malignant and very aggressive and has a high mortality and recurrence rate. Despite the progress that has occurred in the treatment of colon cancer, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgical techniques, the prognosis of patients is still poor. Considering the role of different genes in various regulatory mechanisms such as DNA methylation, deacetylation of histones and also miRNA expression which can ultimately cause the occurrence and progression of colon cancer, there is little information about changes in SLC11A1 gene expression. And its role in the occurrence of colon adenocarcinoma is known. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in SLC11A1 gene expression in colon adenocarcinoma and introduce it as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.
Methods: TCGA data provided by Oncodb database was used to investigate SLC11A1 expression changes in colon adenocarcinoma. Also, based on TCGA clinical data, the relationship between the expression of this gene and the mortality rate of patients and clinical characteristics was appraised. Kaplan-Meier estimator was used to investigate the SLC11A1 gene expression changes and survival rate. Also, the biomarker status of SLC11A1 gene in relation to colon adenocarcinoma was evaluated using ROC diagram.
Results: The results of the investigations showed that the expression level of SLC11A1 in cancer samples increases significantly compared to normal samples (Log FC = 2.00, FDR < 0.001, p-value = 6.4e-23). Also, the results of this study showed that the expression level of SLC11A1 in the sample acquired from people whose BMI is more than 30 (Obese) compared to people whose BMI index is less than 30, significantly increases (p- value = 1.3e-10). In addition, the kaplan-meier estimator showed that increased expression of SLC11A1 is associated with poor prognosis of patients (LogRank p=0.03). Also, with the investigations carried out by the ROC diagram, it was found that the expression changes of the SLC11A1 gene can be considered as a good diagnostic biomarker for the diagnosis of colon adenocarcinoma (AUC = 0.88, p-value < 0.0001).
Conclusion: The results of our study showed that the expression level of SLC11A1 is increased in colon adenocarcinoma and is associated with poor prognosis of patients. As a result, it can probably play a role as an oncogene in the development of colon adenocarcinoma. It was also found that changes in the expression level of SLC11A1 in colon adenocarcinoma can be considered as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.