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Background: While previous studies have indicated variability in distant metastatic potential among different mismatch repair (MMR) states in colorectal cancer (CRC), their findings remain inconclusive, especially considering potential differences across various ethnic backgrounds. Furthermore, the gene regulatory networks and the underlying mechanisms responsible for these variances in metastatic potential across MMR states have yet to be elucidated. Methods: We collected 2058 consecutive primary CRC samples from the South West of China and assessed the expression of MMR proteins (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2) using immunohistochemistry. To explore the inconsistencies between different MMR statuses and recurrence, we performed a meta‐analysis. To delve deeper, we employed Weighted Gene Co‐expression Network Analysis (WGCNA), ClueGo, and iRegulon, pinpointing gene expression networks and key regulatory molecules linked to metastasis and recurrence in CRC. Lastly, both univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied to determine the impact of core regulatory molecules on metastasis. Results: Of the samples, 8.2% displayed deficient MMR (dMMR), with losses of MLH1 and PSM2 observed in 40.8% and 63.9%, respectively. A unique 24.3% isolated loss of PMS2 without concurrent metastasis was identified, a result that diverges from established literature. Additionally, our meta‐analysis further solidifies the reduced recurrence likelihood in dMMR CRC samples compared to proficient MMR (pMMR). Two gene expression networks tied to distant metastasis and recurrence were identified, with a majority of metastasis‐related genes located on chromosomes 8 and 18. An IRF1 positive feedback loop was discerned in the metastasis‐related network, and IRF1 was identified as a predictive marker for both recurrence‐free and distant metastasis‐free survival across multiple datasets. Conclusion: Geographical and ethnic factors might influence peculiarities in MMR protein loss. Our findings also highlight new gene expression networks and crucial regulatory molecules in CRC metastasis, enhancing our comprehension of the mechanisms driving distant metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapidly evolving landscape of biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC) necessitates an integrative, updated repository. In response, we constructed the Colorectal Cancer Biomarker Database (CBD), which collected and displayed the curated biomedicine information for 870 CRC biomarkers in the previous study. Building on CBD, we have now developed CBD2, which includes information on 1569 newly reported biomarkers derived from different biological sources (DNA, RNA, protein, and others) and clinical applications (diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis). CBD2 also incorporates information on nonbiomarkers that have been identified as unsuitable for use as biomarkers in CRC. A key new feature of CBD2 is its network analysis function, by which users can investigate the visible and topological network between biomarkers and identify their relevant pathways. CBD2 also allows users to query a series of chemicals, drug combinations, or multiple targets, to enable multidrug, multitarget, multipathway analyses, toward facilitating the design of polypharmacological treatments for CRC. CBD2 is freely available at http://www.eyeseeworld.com/cbd. Highlights: CBD2 integrates biomarkers derived from diverse biological sources and clinical applications, employing a standardized approach for annotation and classification.CBD2 facilitates precision medicine in colorectal cancer by providing abundant data, including drug–target information and visualized network analysis functions.With its user‐friendly interface, CBD2 aids in the identification and development of biomarkers for colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Through the analysis of tissue microarray (TMA) samples from colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and bioinformatical analyses of public databases and our clinical dataset, this study identifies the different expressions of CD163 in various tissues, the presence of the receptor in TME, the interaction with other biological processes and a positive correlation between CD163 dysfunction and worse prognosis. Therefore, CD163 can be used as a new biomarker to predict patient prognosis. (1) Background: CD163, a specific macrophage receptor, affects the progression of malignant tumors. Unfortunately, the regulation and expression of CD163 are poorly understood. In this study, we determined the expressions of CD163 in TMA samples from CRC patients and combined them with patient data from several Swedish hospitals. (2) Methods: The expressions of CD163 in tissue samples from CRC patients were examined. After combining 472 CRC patients' gene expression and 438 CRC patients' clinical data with the TCGA database, 964 cases from the GEO database, and experimental expression data from 1247 Swedish CRC patients, we selected four genes (PCNA, LOX, BCL2, and CD163) and analyzed the tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) and CRC prognosis. (3) Results: Based on histopathological TMA analysis, CD163 was strongly expressed in the stroma of both normal and cancer tissues, and the expressions in normal and cancer cells varied from negative to strong. The results from public databases show decreased expression of CD163 in cancer tissue compared to normal mucosa (|log FC| > 1 and FDR < 0.01), and it is a negative prognostic factor for CRC patients (p-value < 0.05). Through tumor microenvironment (TME) analysis, we found a potential influence of CD163 on immune cell infiltration. Furthermore, the enrichment analysis indicated the possible interaction with other proteins and biological pathways. (4) Conclusions: CD163 is expressed differently in CRC tissue and is a negative prognostic factor. Its expression is associated with the TME and tumor purity of CRC. Considering all results, CD163 has the potential to be a predictive biomarker in the investigation of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To develop new and effective biomarkers for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Experimental design: The serum expression of ITGB4 (49 CRC and 367 HC) was detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and its diagnostic value was analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The sensitivity and specificity of ITGB4 in CRC diagnosis were calculated through statistical analysis. The optimal clinical cutoff value was calculated using the Youden index, and diagnostic efficacy was analyzed in a larger serum sample (98 CRC and 1631 non‐CRC). The expression of ITGB4 was measured by CyTOF (cell experimental technology) at the single‐cell level, and characteristics were analyzed using viSNE and SPADE TREE. Results: Serum ITGB4 and CEA levels were significantly higher in CRC patients than in HC and non‐CRC patients. The use of serum ITGB4 levels for the diagnosis of CRC has a high sensitivity (79%) but not high specificity when the clinical cutoff value was 0.70 ng/mL. However, the optimal cutoff value was 1.6 ng/mL with 86.2% specificity and 52.0% sensitivity, and the diagnostic efficacy was greatly improved with high specificity (82.0%) and sensitivity (71.4%) when combined with CEA. ITGB4 expression characteristics were measured and related to the expression of EpCAM, Ck8/18, and perforin at the single‐cell level. Single‐cell analysis showed that cell clusters with low expression of CK8/18 and ITGB4 were more sensitive to 5FU and radiotherapy (RT). Conclusions: ITGB4 is an effective diagnostic serum biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: MRE11 plays an important role in DNA damage response for the maintenance of genome stability, and is becoming a prognostic marker for cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the correlations of MRE11 to prognosis and tumor-infiltrating inflammatory cells (TIICs) in different locations of CRC remains unclear. Methods: Among Swedish and TCGA-COREAD patients, we investigated the association of MRE11 expression, tumor-infiltrating inflammatory cells (TIICs) and microsatellite status with survival in right-sided colon cancer (RSCC) and left-sided colon and rectal cancer (LSCRC). The signaling of MRE11-related was further analyzed using weighted gene co-expression network analysis and ClueGO. Results: High MRE11 expression alone or combination of high MRE11 expression with high TIICs was related to favorable prognosis in LSCRC. Moreover, high MRE11 expression was associated with favorable prognosis in LSCRC with microsatellite stability. The relationships above were adjusted for tumor stage, differentiation, and/or TIICs. However, no such evidence was observed in RSCC. Several signaling pathways involving MRE11 were found to be associated with cell cycle and DNA repair in RSCC and LSCRC, whereas, the activation of the immune response and necrotic cell death were specifically correlated with LSCRC. Conclusions: High MRE11 expression is an independent prognostic marker in LSCRC and enhanced prognostic potency of combining high MRE11 with high TIICs in LSCRC, mainly due to differential immune signaling activated by MRE11 in RSCC and LSCRC, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Meningioma-associated protein (MAC30), first described to be overexpressed in meningiomas, exhibits altered expression in certain human tumors. The aim of our study was to investigate the expression of MAC30 mRNA and its correlation with clinicopathological variables in human colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: MAC30 mRNA expression was first examined in 55 CRCs, along with the samples from the matched distant normal and adjacent noncancerous tissue by RT-PCR, further verified in 18 CRCs by quantitative RT-PCR. MAC30 protein expression was detected by Western blot in 10 CRCs, and DNA sequencing was performed in 1 case of the paired CRC and the matched noncancerous specimen. MAC30 mRNA expression in two colon cancer cell lines, HCT-116p53-/- and HCT-116p53+/+, was detected by quantitative RT-PCR. Results: The mRNA expression of MAC30 was increased in CRC when compared with distant normal (p < 0.01) and adjacent noncancerous mucosa (p < 0.01). The mean value of MAC30 mRNA expression in the tumor located in the colon was higher than in the rectum (0.677 ± 0.419 vs. 0.412 ± 0.162, p = 0.005). As the tumor penetrated the wall of the colon/rectum, MAC30 mRNA expression notably increased in tumors with T3+T4 stage compared to tumors with T1+T2 stage (0.571 ± 0.364 vs. 0.404 ± 0.115, p = 0.014). MAC30 protein expression in CRCs was also remarkably elevated compared to the adjacent noncancerous mucosa. There was no mutation in the coding region of the MAC30 gene either in CRC or in the noncancerous mucosa. mRNA expression of p53 was notably decreased in HCT-116p53-/- compared to HCT-116p53+/+, while MAC30 did not vary greatly. Conclusion: The overexpression of MAC30 might be involved in the development and aggressiveness of CRCs, especially in the colon. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: FXYD3 is up-/down-regulated in different types of cancers. We examined FXYD3 expression in colorectal cancers and its relationship to biological and clinicopathological variables. Patients and Methods: Expression of FXYD3 protein was immunohistochemically examined in distant normal mucosa (n = 34), adjacent normal mucosa (n = 72), primary tumour (n = 150) and lymph node metastasis (n = 35) from colorectal cancer patients. Results: FXYD3 was highly expressed in primary tumour compared to adjacent normal mucosa (p = 0.02). FXYD3 was or tended to be positively related to the expression of ras (p = 0.02), p53 (p = 0.06), legumain (p = 0.02) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (p = 0.03). Moreover, there was a higher frequency of strong FXYD3 expression in Dukes A–C tumours than in D tumours (p = 0.04). The strong FXYD3 expression tended to predict worse survival in the patients with Dukes A + B tumour (p = 0.07), while there was no such tendency in the patients with Dukes C + D tumour (p = 0.94). The tumours located in the colon had a higher degree of FXYD3 expression than the tumours located in the rectum (p = 0.05). Conclusion: The FXYD3 was associated with certain biological variables and may be involved in the development of the relative earlier stages of colorectal cancers. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The inhibitory proteins, IκBs, regulate the activity of nuclear factor kappa-beta (NF-κB), which is implicated in tumorigenesis by regulating expression of a variety of genes involved in cellular transformation, proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis. Variants in the genes encoding IκBs may be involved in cancer development through the activation of NF-κB. The objective of this study was to investigate the susceptibility of an A to G variation (rs696) in the 3′ UTR of NFKBIA (encoding IκBα) to colorectal cancer (CRC) and the association of this polymorphism with clinicopathologic variables in CRC patients. Material and methods. A case-control study was carried out on a Swedish (155 CRCs, 438 controls) and a Chinese population (199 CRCs, 577 controls). The genotype of NFKBIA was determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results. The frequency of the AG genotype was increased in the Chinese patients ≥50 years of age compared with the Chinese controls (odds ratio (OR) = 3.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.55–6.02, p=0.001), even when adjusted for age (OR = 3.20, 95% CI = 1.61–6.38, p=0.001). The GG genotype of NFKBIA was related to a poorer survival rate in the Swedish patients, independent of gender, age, tumour location, Dukes’ stage and differentiation (hazard ratio = 3.10, 95% Cl = 1.28–7.60, p=0.01). Conclusions. Chinese individuals ≥50 years of age carrying the AG genotype of NFKBIA may be at an increased risk of developing CRC, and the GG genotype of NFKBIA may be considered as a prognostic factor for Swedish CRC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The nucleoporin Nup88 is overexpressed in a series of human malignancies, however, its clinicopathological significance has not been studied. Our aims were to analyze Nup88 expression in normal mucosa, primary tumors and metastases from colorectal cancer patients and further to identify relationships of Nup88 expression with clinicopathological and other factors. Materials and Methods: Using immunohistochemistry, we investigated Nup88 expression in 198 primary colorectal tumors, 96 normal mucosa samples and 35 lymph node metastases. Results: The results showed that the intensity of Nup88 expression increased from the normal mucosa to the primary tumors (p < 0.0001) and tended to increase from the primary tumors to the metastases (p = 0.15). Both primary tumors and metastases presented stronger expression in the invasive margin and vascular-invaded areas. Nup88 expression was positively related to distal tumor location (p = 0.01), infiltrative growth pattern (p = 0.04) and higher proliferative activity (p = 0.04) and reversely to the grade of differentiation (p = 0.02) and apoptosis (p = 0.049). Strong expression of Nup88 predicted a worse outcome in the patients with distal tumors during the follow-up period of up to 3 years (p = 0.02). Conclusions: It seems that overexpression of Nup88 was involved in the tumorigenesis and aggressiveness of colorectal cancers, and Nup88 may be used as a prognostic factor in patients with distal tumors.Copyright © 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to find out the most valuable biomarkers and pathways for diagnosis, therapy and prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC) we have collected the published CRC biomarkers and established a CRC biomarker database (CBD: http://sysbio.suda.edu.cn/CBD/index.html). In this study, we analysed the single and multiple DNA, RNA and protein biomarkers as well as their positions in cancer related pathways and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks to describe their potential applications in diagnosis, therapy and prognosis. CRC biomarkers were collected from the CBD. The RNA and protein biomarkers were matched to their corresponding DNAs by the miRDB database and the PubMed Gene database, respectively. The PPI networks were used to investigate the relationships between protein biomarkers and further detect the multiple biomarkers. The Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and Gene Ontology (GO) annotation were used to analyse biological functions of the biomarkers. AI classification techniques were utilized to further verify the significances of the multiple biomarkers in diagnosis and prognosis for CRC. We showed that a large number of the DNA, RNA and protein biomarkers were associated with the diagnosis, therapy and prognosis in various degrees in the CRC biomarker networks. The CRC biomarkers were closely related to the CRC initiation and progression. Moreover, the biomarkers played critical roles in cellular proliferation, apoptosis and angiogenesis and they were involved in Ras, p53 and PI3K pathways. There were overlaps among the DNA, RNA and protein biomarkers. AI classification verifications showed that the combined multiple protein biomarkers played important roles to accurate early diagnosis and predict outcome for CRC. There were several single and multiple CRC protein biomarkers which were associated with diagnosis, therapy and prognosis in CRC. Further, AI-assisted analysis revealed that multiple biomarkers had potential applications for diagnosis and prognosis in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common detection methods in practice for diagnosing colorectal cancer (CRC) are painful and invasive leading to less participation of individuals for CRC diagnosis. Whereas, improved or enhanced imaging systems and other minimally invasive techniques with shorter detection times deliver greater detail and less discomfort in individuals. Thus, this review is a summary of the diagnostic tests, ranging from the simple potential use in developing a flexible CRC treatment to the patient's potential benefits in receiving less invasive procedures and the advanced treatments that might provide a better assessment for the diagnosis of CRC and reduce the mortality related to CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polymorphism at codon 201 of the “deleted in colorectal carcinoma” (DCC) gene has been liked to susceptibility to colorectal cancer. However, its clinicopathological significance has not been reported. We examined the codon 201 polymorphism and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 59 colorectal cancers, 48 samples from transitional mucosa and 67 samples from normal mucosa. The frequencies of the polymorphism did not significantly differ from normal to transitional mucosa and to tumor, but LOH was increased from transitional mucosa to tumor. Almost all of the LOH cases showed the polymorphism. The polymorphism was increased from well/moderately to poorly differentiated and to mucinous carcinoma (P=0.03). The polymorphism was more frequently seen in advanced stages than in earlier stages (P=0.02), and further predicted worse survival (P=0.04). The data suggest that the codon 201 polymorphism of the DCC gene was a target of LOH, and predicted prognosis in colorectal cancer patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: To explore whether the Rho protein is involved in the radioresistance of colorectal cancer and investigate the underlying mechanisms.Methods and Materials: Rho GTPase expression was measured after radiation treatment in colon cancer cells. RhoB knockout cell lines were established using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. In vitro assays and zebrafish embryos were used for analyzing radiosensitivity and invasive ability. Mass cytometry was used to detect RhoB downstream signaling factors. RhoB and Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) expression were detected by immunohistochemistry in rectal cancer patients who participated in a radiation therapy trial.Results: RhoB expression was related to radiation resistance. Complete depletion of the RhoB protein increased radiosensitivity and impaired radiation-enhanced metastatic potential in vitro and in zebrafish models. Probing signaling using mass cytometry-based single-cell analysis showed that the Akt phosphorylation level was inhibited by RhoB depletion after radiation. FOXM1 was downregulated in RhoB knockout cells, and the inhibition of FOXM1 led to lower survival rates and attenuated migration and invasion abilities of the cells after radiation. In the patients who underwent radiation therapy, RhoB overexpression was related to high FOXM1, late Tumor, Node, Metastasis stage, high distant recurrence, and poor survival independent of other clinical factors.Conclusions: RhoB plays a critical role in radioresistance of colorectal cancer through Akt and FOXM1 pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]