High expression of ELFN1 is a prognostic biomarker and promotes proliferation and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells.
10.12122/j.issn.1673-4254.2025.07.22
- Author:
Kang WANG
1
;
Haibin LI
1
;
Jing YU
1
;
Yuan MENG
2
;
Hongli ZHANG
3
Author Information
1. Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shunde Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shunde 528308, China, Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
3. Department of Hospital Infection Control, Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
ECM signaling pathway;
ELFN1;
bioinformatics;
clinical prognosis;
colorectal cancer
- MeSH:
Humans;
Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis*;
Cell Proliferation;
Prognosis;
Cell Line, Tumor;
Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism*;
Neoplasm Metastasis;
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic;
Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism*;
Female;
Male
- From:
Journal of Southern Medical University
2025;45(7):1543-1553
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES:To explore the correlation of ELFN1 expression level with prognosis of colorectal cancer and its regulatory role in colorectal cancer cell proliferation and metastasis.
METHODS:We analyzed the expression levels of ELFN1 across 33 cancer types using publicly available databases and identified differential genes related to ELFN1 in colorectal cancer. Gene function annotation and enrichment analysis were used to identify the involved signaling pathways. Logistic analysis, Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis were performed to evaluate the correlation between ELFN1 expression and clinicopathological parameters and survival of colorectal cancer patients. qPCR and Western blotting were used to validate the expression levels of ELFN1 in different colorectal cancer cell lines and tissues, and Transwell and EDU experiments were carried out to assess the effect of ELFN1 knockdown on biological behaviors of SW480 cells.
RESULTS:ELFN1 was highly expressed in 14 cancers, and its expression was significantly higher in colon cancer tissues than in adjacent tissues. A high expression of ELFN1 mRNA was associated with a poorer overall survival of colorectal cancer patients. Cox regression analysis indicated that ELFN1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of the patients. ELFN1 was significantly enriched in tumor metastasis and proliferation and participated in several tumor signaling pathways. The colon cancer cell lines showed significantly higher expression levels of ELFN1 than normal cells, ELFN1 knockdown obviously inhibited proliferation and migration of SW480 cells in vitro.
CONCLUSIONS:ELFN1 is overexpressed in colorectal cancer and is associated with poor clinical prognosis of the patients. A high ELFN1 expression is associated with malignant phenotypes of colorectal cancer and promotes cancer cell proliferation and metastasis, suggesting its potential as a prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer.
