1.Expression of SIPA1 in colorectal cancer and its impact on its biological behavior
Nanzhang WANG ; Lu ZHANG ; Jing CHEN ; Hui CHEN ; Ruochun WANG ; Cuihua LU ; Yifei JI
Chinese Journal of Oncology 2025;47(7):657-668
Objectives:To investigate the expression of signal-induced proliferation-associated 1 (SIPA1) in colorectal cancer tissues and its relationship with patient prognosis. To explore the effects of SIPA1 on proliferation and migration abilities, as well as the possible molecular mechanisms.Methods:Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to analyze the differential expression of SIPA1 and conduct survival analysis. Then, plotting receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and prognosis calibration curve analysis to assess the predictive capability and accuracy of SIPA1 for patient prognosis. Subsequently, verifying the expression levels of SIPA1 in tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blot (WB) assays(from March 1, 2023, to May 1, 2024, pathological specimens of five colorectal cancer patients were selected from the tissue bank of affiliated hospital of Nantong University. tissue microarrays were constructed using both cancerous tissues and adjacent normal tissues), and exploring the correlation between SIPA1 and clinical pathological parameters. Next, establishing SIPA1 stable knockdown cell lines in colorectal cancer cell lines DLD1 and HCT116, and assessing the biological behavior changes of tumor cells after SIPA1 knockdown through cell proliferation, invasion, and migration experiments. Validating the impact of SIPA1 on colorectal cancer cell proliferation in vivo through subcutaneous xenograft experiments in nude mice. Exploring the potential pro-tumor mechanisms of SIPA1 through pathway enrichment analysis, and confirming these using WB experiments. The proliferation, invasion and migration of tumor cells were detected after adding PI3K activator. Lastly, conducting correlation analysis between SIPA1 and immune checkpoint, as well as the association with immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. Results:Differential analysis showed that mRNA expression of SIPA1 in colorectal cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent normal tissues ( P<0.05). Prognostic analysis indicated that patients with high expression of SIPA1 had poor overall survival ( P<0.001), and the expression level of SIPA1was correlated with lymph node invasion ( P<0.001) and N stage ( P<0.05). ROC curve and prognosis calibration curve suggest that SIPA1 can effectively predict five-year survival rate of patients (AUC=0.7), and the predictive performance of the model is relatively accurate ( P<0.001). WB experiments showed a significant increase in the expression level of SIPA1 protein in colorectal cancer specimens ( P<0.001). Immunohistochemistry results indicated higher staining scores of SIPA1 in tumor tissues. In vitro experiments demonstrated that SIPA1 knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and migration capabilities of colorectal cancer cells. In DLD1 and HCT116 cells, the SIPA1-knockdown group exhibited significantly lower absorbance compared to the control group (0.89±0.01 vs. 1.57±0.02 and 0.72±0.01 vs. 1.31±0.03, respectively, both P<0.001). The SIPA1-knockdown group also demonstrated a reduced number of migrated cells relative to the control group (197.93±16.64 vs. 518.48±29.15 and 171.83±12.49 vs. 446.00±21.81, respectively, both P<0.001). Furthermore, the cell wound-healing rate was significantly lower in the SIPA1-knockdown group than that in the control group [(0.32±0.01)% vs. (0.61±0.01)% and (0.28±0.01)% vs. (0.75±0.01)%, respectively, both P<0.001]. In vivo animal experiments suggested that SIPA1 knockdown could inhibit tumor growth [(460.35±57.47) mm3 vs (1 177.55±208.24)mm3, (0.76±0.11)g vs (1.43±0.08)g, P<0.05]. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed significant enrichment of the receptor tyrosine kinase signaling pathway, and SIPA1 knockdown could inhibit the activation of the phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases (PI3K)/protein kinase B (PKB)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) signaling pathway. The PI3K activator reversed the inhibitory effect of SIPA1 silencing on tumor cell proliferation, invasion and migration. Correlation analysis indicated that high expression of SIPA1 was associated with immune checkpoints and various immunosuppressive cells (all P<0.05). Conclusions:SIPA1 is highly expressed in colorectal cancer and associated with poor prognosis. SIPA1 may affect the proliferation and migration abilities of tumor cells by regulating the PI3K/AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway.
2.Screening of target genes for bile acid metabolism in Crohn's disease and its value in disease diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring
Hui CHEN ; Lu ZHANG ; Jing CHEN ; Nanzhang WANG ; Ruochun WANG ; Cuihua LU ; Yifei JI
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2025;29(32):7028-7040
BACKGROUND:Bile acid metabolism plays a crucial role in the development and progression of Crohn's disease.There is no research on changes in bile acid metabolism and key target genes following treatment with biological agents.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression characteristics of bile acid metabolism-related genes in patients with Crohn's disease,identify key genes associated with response to biological agents.METHODS:Transcriptome data were obtained through the GEO database to analyze differentially expressed genes between inflammation-control groups and inflammation-treatment groups.GO,KEGG,and GSEA enrichment analyses were used to evaluate the effects of biological agent therapy on bile acid metabolism.Protein-protein interaction network and WGCNA algorithm were employed to analyze differentially expressed genes,identifying modules closely related to biological agent treatment response,which led to the determination of UGT2A3 as a key gene in bile acid metabolism.In the inflammation group of the GSE186582 dataset,samples were divided into high and low expression groups based on UGT2A3 levels to study its relationship with immune infiltration and explore the interaction between UGT2A3 and the immune microenvironment.Clinical characteristics and intestinal manifestations were compared between high and low expression groups,and correlations between UGT2A3 and clinical indicators(C-reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,Crohn's disease activity index,and Crohn's disease endoscopic activity score)were investigated.The competing endogenous RNA regulatory network of UGT2A3 was constructed,and its upstream miRNA was functionally enriched to explore the molecular mechanism of UGT2A3 in bile acid metabolism.Single-cell analysis and clustering were performed using high-throughput sequencing data of GSE134809 to observe the expression of UGT2A3 in different samples and cell populations.Colon tissue samples from untreated and biologic-treated Crohn's disease patients and healthy colon tissue samples from patients with intestinal polyps were collected,and UGT2A3 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry,qRT-PCR,and western blot assay.Fresh feces from Crohn's disease patients and healthy controls were collected to detect bile acid levels,and the relationship between UGT2A3 and fecal bile acid levels was analyzed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 11 bile acid metabolism-related genes were screened,showing significant changes in gene expression after biological agent therapy.GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that intestinal nutrient absorption and metabolic processes normalized after treatment,while leukocyte chemotaxis and inflammatory response pathway activity decreased.GSEA analysis revealed significant enrichment of bile acid metabolism-related pathways after treatment.Protein-protein interaction network construction and WGCNA analysis identified UGT2A3 as a key gene closely associated with treatment response.UGT2A3 expression was significantly decreased in inflamed tissues of Crohn's disease patients and returned to normal levels after biological agent therapy.This result was confirmed in clinical specimens.UGT2A3 expression levels showed significant negative correlations with C-reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,Crohn's Disease Activity Index,and Crohn's Disease Endoscopic Index of Severity.Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that UGT2A3 has good diagnostic value(Area Under Curve AUC=0.801 0)and effectively reflects treatment outcomes.Immune infiltration analysis showed significantly increased infiltration of various immune cells in samples with low UGT2A3 expression,and its expression levels negatively correlated with immune scores,microenvironment scores,and stromal scores.Compared with the low UGT2A3 expression group,patients with high expression showed less fecal occult blood and penetrating inflammation,with milder intestinal strictures and general condition severity.Fecal bile acid analysis revealed that UGT2A3 expression strongly negatively correlated with primary bile acid content and strongly positively correlated with secondary bile acid content.
3.Screening of target genes for bile acid metabolism in Crohn's disease and its value in disease diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring
Hui CHEN ; Lu ZHANG ; Jing CHEN ; Nanzhang WANG ; Ruochun WANG ; Cuihua LU ; Yifei JI
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2025;29(32):7028-7040
BACKGROUND:Bile acid metabolism plays a crucial role in the development and progression of Crohn's disease.There is no research on changes in bile acid metabolism and key target genes following treatment with biological agents.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression characteristics of bile acid metabolism-related genes in patients with Crohn's disease,identify key genes associated with response to biological agents.METHODS:Transcriptome data were obtained through the GEO database to analyze differentially expressed genes between inflammation-control groups and inflammation-treatment groups.GO,KEGG,and GSEA enrichment analyses were used to evaluate the effects of biological agent therapy on bile acid metabolism.Protein-protein interaction network and WGCNA algorithm were employed to analyze differentially expressed genes,identifying modules closely related to biological agent treatment response,which led to the determination of UGT2A3 as a key gene in bile acid metabolism.In the inflammation group of the GSE186582 dataset,samples were divided into high and low expression groups based on UGT2A3 levels to study its relationship with immune infiltration and explore the interaction between UGT2A3 and the immune microenvironment.Clinical characteristics and intestinal manifestations were compared between high and low expression groups,and correlations between UGT2A3 and clinical indicators(C-reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,Crohn's disease activity index,and Crohn's disease endoscopic activity score)were investigated.The competing endogenous RNA regulatory network of UGT2A3 was constructed,and its upstream miRNA was functionally enriched to explore the molecular mechanism of UGT2A3 in bile acid metabolism.Single-cell analysis and clustering were performed using high-throughput sequencing data of GSE134809 to observe the expression of UGT2A3 in different samples and cell populations.Colon tissue samples from untreated and biologic-treated Crohn's disease patients and healthy colon tissue samples from patients with intestinal polyps were collected,and UGT2A3 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry,qRT-PCR,and western blot assay.Fresh feces from Crohn's disease patients and healthy controls were collected to detect bile acid levels,and the relationship between UGT2A3 and fecal bile acid levels was analyzed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 11 bile acid metabolism-related genes were screened,showing significant changes in gene expression after biological agent therapy.GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that intestinal nutrient absorption and metabolic processes normalized after treatment,while leukocyte chemotaxis and inflammatory response pathway activity decreased.GSEA analysis revealed significant enrichment of bile acid metabolism-related pathways after treatment.Protein-protein interaction network construction and WGCNA analysis identified UGT2A3 as a key gene closely associated with treatment response.UGT2A3 expression was significantly decreased in inflamed tissues of Crohn's disease patients and returned to normal levels after biological agent therapy.This result was confirmed in clinical specimens.UGT2A3 expression levels showed significant negative correlations with C-reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,Crohn's Disease Activity Index,and Crohn's Disease Endoscopic Index of Severity.Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that UGT2A3 has good diagnostic value(Area Under Curve AUC=0.801 0)and effectively reflects treatment outcomes.Immune infiltration analysis showed significantly increased infiltration of various immune cells in samples with low UGT2A3 expression,and its expression levels negatively correlated with immune scores,microenvironment scores,and stromal scores.Compared with the low UGT2A3 expression group,patients with high expression showed less fecal occult blood and penetrating inflammation,with milder intestinal strictures and general condition severity.Fecal bile acid analysis revealed that UGT2A3 expression strongly negatively correlated with primary bile acid content and strongly positively correlated with secondary bile acid content.
4.Expression of SIPA1 in colorectal cancer and its impact on its biological behavior
Nanzhang WANG ; Lu ZHANG ; Jing CHEN ; Hui CHEN ; Ruochun WANG ; Cuihua LU ; Yifei JI
Chinese Journal of Oncology 2025;47(7):657-668
Objectives:To investigate the expression of signal-induced proliferation-associated 1 (SIPA1) in colorectal cancer tissues and its relationship with patient prognosis. To explore the effects of SIPA1 on proliferation and migration abilities, as well as the possible molecular mechanisms.Methods:Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to analyze the differential expression of SIPA1 and conduct survival analysis. Then, plotting receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and prognosis calibration curve analysis to assess the predictive capability and accuracy of SIPA1 for patient prognosis. Subsequently, verifying the expression levels of SIPA1 in tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blot (WB) assays(from March 1, 2023, to May 1, 2024, pathological specimens of five colorectal cancer patients were selected from the tissue bank of affiliated hospital of Nantong University. tissue microarrays were constructed using both cancerous tissues and adjacent normal tissues), and exploring the correlation between SIPA1 and clinical pathological parameters. Next, establishing SIPA1 stable knockdown cell lines in colorectal cancer cell lines DLD1 and HCT116, and assessing the biological behavior changes of tumor cells after SIPA1 knockdown through cell proliferation, invasion, and migration experiments. Validating the impact of SIPA1 on colorectal cancer cell proliferation in vivo through subcutaneous xenograft experiments in nude mice. Exploring the potential pro-tumor mechanisms of SIPA1 through pathway enrichment analysis, and confirming these using WB experiments. The proliferation, invasion and migration of tumor cells were detected after adding PI3K activator. Lastly, conducting correlation analysis between SIPA1 and immune checkpoint, as well as the association with immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. Results:Differential analysis showed that mRNA expression of SIPA1 in colorectal cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent normal tissues ( P<0.05). Prognostic analysis indicated that patients with high expression of SIPA1 had poor overall survival ( P<0.001), and the expression level of SIPA1was correlated with lymph node invasion ( P<0.001) and N stage ( P<0.05). ROC curve and prognosis calibration curve suggest that SIPA1 can effectively predict five-year survival rate of patients (AUC=0.7), and the predictive performance of the model is relatively accurate ( P<0.001). WB experiments showed a significant increase in the expression level of SIPA1 protein in colorectal cancer specimens ( P<0.001). Immunohistochemistry results indicated higher staining scores of SIPA1 in tumor tissues. In vitro experiments demonstrated that SIPA1 knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and migration capabilities of colorectal cancer cells. In DLD1 and HCT116 cells, the SIPA1-knockdown group exhibited significantly lower absorbance compared to the control group (0.89±0.01 vs. 1.57±0.02 and 0.72±0.01 vs. 1.31±0.03, respectively, both P<0.001). The SIPA1-knockdown group also demonstrated a reduced number of migrated cells relative to the control group (197.93±16.64 vs. 518.48±29.15 and 171.83±12.49 vs. 446.00±21.81, respectively, both P<0.001). Furthermore, the cell wound-healing rate was significantly lower in the SIPA1-knockdown group than that in the control group [(0.32±0.01)% vs. (0.61±0.01)% and (0.28±0.01)% vs. (0.75±0.01)%, respectively, both P<0.001]. In vivo animal experiments suggested that SIPA1 knockdown could inhibit tumor growth [(460.35±57.47) mm3 vs (1 177.55±208.24)mm3, (0.76±0.11)g vs (1.43±0.08)g, P<0.05]. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed significant enrichment of the receptor tyrosine kinase signaling pathway, and SIPA1 knockdown could inhibit the activation of the phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases (PI3K)/protein kinase B (PKB)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) signaling pathway. The PI3K activator reversed the inhibitory effect of SIPA1 silencing on tumor cell proliferation, invasion and migration. Correlation analysis indicated that high expression of SIPA1 was associated with immune checkpoints and various immunosuppressive cells (all P<0.05). Conclusions:SIPA1 is highly expressed in colorectal cancer and associated with poor prognosis. SIPA1 may affect the proliferation and migration abilities of tumor cells by regulating the PI3K/AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway.
5.Expression of BCL7A in hepatocellular carcinoma and its effects on prognosis, invasion and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma
Jiawei JIANG ; Wei HUANG ; Jing CHEN ; Tao MA ; Han XUAN ; Yang YAN ; Ruochun WANG ; Jinxia LIU
Chinese Journal of Hepatobiliary Surgery 2024;30(1):56-61
Objective:To analyze the expression and prognosis of B-cell lymphoma 7 protein family member A (BCL7A) in hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as the effect and mechanism of BCL7A expression on the invasion and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.Methods:The cancer tissues and adjacent tissues of 40 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent radical hepatobiliary resection in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from November 2017 to March 2018 were prospectively collected for protein extraction, including 29 males and 11 females, aged (58.5±10.4) years. The information of 374 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 50 cases of adjacent tissues were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and the hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines Hep3B and SMMC-7721 were transfected with overexpressing BCL7A plasmid and empty vector plasmid (negative control), respectively. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of BCL7A, and Western blotting was also used to detect the expression of proteins related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (N-cadherin, E-cadherin, snail). Transwell and cell scratch assays were used to detect cell invasion and migration.Results:Compared with adjacent tissues, the mRNA expression of BCL7A in 50 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in TCGA was significantly increased ( t=13.38, P<0.001). According to the median mRNA expression level of BCL7A, 374 patients were divided into BCL7A high expression group ( n=187) and low expression group ( n=187), and the cumulative survival rate of BCL7A high expression patients was lower than that of low expression group, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=6.95, P=0.009). Western blot was used to detect the relative expression of BCL7A protein in cancer tissues, and found it was higher compared to adjacent tissues. Compared with the negative control group, the number of cells invaded by the BCL7A overexpression group of hepatoma cells Hep3B and SMMC-7721 was more than the negative control group respectively, (153.7±1.3) vs (63.7±4.7) and (307.7±25.14) vs (72.3±12.5), and the differences were statistically significant ( t=7.97, 8.38, both P=0.001) .The results of the cell scratch assay were consistent with the results of the Transwell invasion assay. The expressions of N-cadherin and snail in the BCL7A overexpression group were higher than those in the negative control group, and the E-cadherin was lower, and the difference was statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusions:The expression of BCL7A in cancer tissues of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma is elevated and is associated with poor prognosis. BCL7A may promote hepatocellular carcinoma cell metastasis and invasion by promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
6.Expression and clinical significance of CENPU in intestinal tissues of patients with colorectal cancer
Ruochun WANG ; Wei HUANG ; Sijia GE ; Jing CHEN ; Han XUAN ; Yang YAN ; Jiawei JIANG ; Mingbing XIAO ; Cuihua LU ; Zhaoxiu LIU
China Modern Doctor 2024;62(11):1-6
Objective To investigate the expression of centromere protein U(CENPU)in the intestinal tissues of patients with colon cancer,and to analyze the effect of CENPU expression level on the prognosis of patients with colon cancer combined with bioinformatics.Methods Firstly,the expression of CENPU in cancer tissues and normal tissues of colon cancer patients was analyzed by the expression of CENPU in tissues was further verified by real-time quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR),Western blot(WB)and immunohistochemistry(IHC).Combined with clinical data,univariate and multivariate Cox regression are used to analyze the correlation between CENPU expression and clinical case parameters of colon cancer patients.Then,the predictive effect of CENPU expression on the prognosis of colon cancer patients are explored by drawing receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and Kaplan-Meier survival curve.Finally,the possible molecular mechanism of the effect of CENPU expression on the progression of colon cancer are analyzed by bioinformatics.Results By qRT-PCR,WB and IHC experiments,we find that compared with normal tissues,the expression of CENPU in cancer tissues of colon cancer patients is significantly increased.Cox regression analysis show that the expression of CENPU is significantly correlated with the age and TNM stage of patients,and is a risk factor affecting the prognosis of patients.Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis show that colon cancer patients with high CENPU expression has significantly lower survival rates.ROC curve show that the model based on CENPU expression has a high predictive power for the prognosis of colon cancer patients area under the curve(AUC=0.832).Bioinformatics analysis show that CENPI,CENPN,CENPD,CENPK,CENPP,CENPM,CENPQ,CENPH,NDC80 and ITGB3BP have significant interaction with CENPU gene.CENPU is involved in DNA repair,MYC/TARGETS/V1 and PI3K/AKT/MTOR signaling pathways.Conclusion High expression of CENPU in cancer tissues of patients with colon cancer is significantly associated with poor prognosis of patients,suggesting that CENPU is expected to be a potential target for early diagnosis and prognosis prediction of patients with colon cancer.

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