Zhang Jingfeng, Hu Sifeng, Li Yansen
Department of Anorectal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining 272029, Shandong, China.
Department of General Surgery, Zhoucheng People's Hospital, Zhoucheng 27350012, Shandong, China.
Biosci Rep. 2019 Aug 13;39(8). doi: 10.1042/BSR20190884. Print 2019 Aug 30.
Keratin 18 (KRT18) has been suggested to be overexpressed in most types of human tumor, but the expression pattern of KRT18 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remained unknown. In our research, KRT18 protein expression was markedly increased in CRC cancer tissues and cell lines compared with adjacent normal colorectal tissues and normal colonic epithelial cell line, respectively. Meanwhile, we observed high KRT18 expression was associated with advanced clinical stage, deep tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, poor differentiation and unfavorable prognosis in CRC patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed high expression of KRT18 was an unfavorable independent predictor for overall survival in CRC patients. The studies indicated down-regulation of KRT18 expression depressed CRC cell viability, migration and invasion. In conclusion, KRT18 serves as an oncogenic role in CRC progression and may be a therapeutic target for promoting CRC patients' prognosis.
角蛋白18（KRT18）在大多数人类肿瘤类型中被认为存在过表达，但KRT18在结直肠癌（CRC）中的表达模式尚不清楚。在我们的研究中，与相邻正常结直肠组织和正常结肠上皮细胞系相比，KRT18蛋白表达在CRC癌组织和细胞系中分别显著增加。同时，我们观察到CRC患者中KRT18高表达与临床晚期、肿瘤深度浸润、淋巴结转移、远处转移、低分化及不良预后相关。多因素Cox回归分析显示KRT18高表达是CRC患者总生存的不良独立预测因素。研究表明KRT18表达下调会抑制CRC细胞活力、迁移和侵袭。总之，KRT18在CRC进展中起致癌作用，可能是改善CRC患者预后的治疗靶点。
