Potential New Target for Colorectal Cancer Treatment

06/28/2024

by First Hospital of Jilin University

(A) Principal component (PC) analysis of normal and cancer samples. (B) Differentially expressed genes in normal and cancer samples. (C) Data mining of TCGA Database showed the expression of PFDN6. (D, E) Χ² test for correlation between PFDN6 expression and different CRC stages (stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV) and TNM stages. Statistical differences were analyzed using Spearman's test. (F) H&E staining of mice in control (Ctrl), tumor (T), tumor+lymph node metastasis (T+LNM) groups. Scale bar, 100 µm. Magnification times: 200×, 400×. (G) The expression levels of PFDN6 in CRC tumor tissues with or without lymph node metastasis and para-carcinoma tissues were determined by immunohistochemical staining. Magnification times: 200×, 400×. (H) The statistics of (G). The data are expressed as mean±SEM; **p<0.01 vs. T+LNM, ***p<0.001 vs. Ctrl. CRC, colorectal cancer; FC, fold change; TCGA, The Cancer Genome Atlas; TNM, tumor–node–metastasis. Credit: Fenghua Xu, LingYang Kong, Xiao Sun et al.

Researchers have identified a protein called PFDN6 that may play a role in the development and spread of colorectal cancer (CRC). The study, published in [journal name], found that PFDN6 levels are increased in CRC patients and contribute to tumor growth. By reducing PFDN6 in lab studies, scientists were able to slow cancer cell spread and increase cell death. These findings suggest that PFDN6 could be a target for future CRC treatments.

The findings are published in the journal eGastroenterology.

CRC is the third most common cancer worldwide and has a poor prognosis, especially in advanced stages. While surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are available treatment options, they often have side effects and limited effectiveness. Therefore, there is a critical need for new therapeutic approaches.

This study investigated the role of PFDN6 in CRC. Researchers analyzed data from an extensive cancer genomics database and found that PFDN6 expression is elevated in CRC tissues compared to healthy tissues. Additionally, higher PFDN6 levels were associated with more advanced cancer stages.

Further lab experiments confirmed that reducing PFDN6 levels in CRC cells led to decreased cell migration and invasion, essential steps for cancer spread. Additionally, researchers identified a protein called ZNF575 that may be involved in PFDN6's effects on CRC. These findings suggest that PFDN6 may be involved in promoting the growth and spread of CRC.

(A) The mRNA expression of PFDN6 in CRC cell lines was evaluated by qRT-PCR. (B) The knockdown efficiencies of shPFDN6-1, shPFDN6-2 and shPFDN6-3 were detected by qRT-PCR. (C, D) The mRNA and protein expression of PFDN6 in CRC cell lines (HCT-116 and RKO cell lines) was evaluated by qRT-PCR (C) and western blot (D), the relative expression was quantified by normalizing to GAPDH. (E) Immunofluorescence detection of PFDN6 expression in CRC cell lines. GFP: PFDN 6, magnification: 400. The data are expressed as mean±SEM; *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001 vs. shCtrl. CRC, colorectal cancer; GFP, green fluorescent protein; qRT-PCR, quantitative real-time PCR. Credit: Fenghua Xu, LingYang Kong, Xiao Sun, et al.

While these results are promising, further research is needed. The current study was conducted in the lab, and additional studies in animal models are required to confirm the findings. Additionally, scientists need to investigate the specific mechanisms by which PFDN6 contributes to CRC development.

Overall, this study highlights PFDN6 as a potential new target for CRC treatment. Targeting PFDN6 could lead to the development of more effective therapies for patients with this disease.

More information: Fenghua Xu et al, PFDN6 contributes to colorectal cancer progression via transcriptional regulation, eGastroenterology (2024). DOI: 10.1136/egastro-2023-100001

Provided by First Hospital of Jilin University

Citation: Potential new target for colorectal cancer treatment (2024, June 27) retrieved 27 June 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-potential-colorectal-cancer-treatment.html

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