Department of Anorectal Surgery, Jiangmen Wuyi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangmen, China.
Department of Anorectal Surgery, Jiangxi Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanchang, China.
Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 29;13(1):5106. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-32457-z.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent one in the world among the most common malignant tumors. Numerous studies have shown that butyrate has demonstrated promise as an antitumor agent in a variety of human cancer types. However, butyrate remains understudied in CRC tumorigenesis and progression. In this study, we explored therapeutic strategies to treat CRC by examining the role of butyrate metabolism. First, from the Molecular Signature Database (MSigDB), we identified 348 butyrate metabolism-related genes (BMRGs). Next, we downloaded 473 CRC and 41 standard colorectal tissue samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and the transcriptome data of GSE39582 dataset from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then we evaluated the expression patterns of butyrate metabolism-related genes with difference analysis in CRC. Through univariate Cox regression and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis, a prognostic model was constructed based on differentially expressed BMRGs. In addition, we discovered an independent prognostic marker for CRC patients. According to the expression levels and coefficients of identified BMRGs, the risk scores of all CRC samples were calculated. Utilizing differentially expressed genes in the high- and low-risk groups, we also constructed a Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network to visualize the interactions between proteins. Through the results of PPI network, we screened out differentially expressed target butyrate metabolism-related genes from ten hub genes. Finally, we performed clinical correlation analysis, immune cell infiltration analysis, and mutation analysis for these target genes. One hundred and seventy three differentially expressed butyrate metabolism-related genes were screened out in all the CRC samples. The prognostic model was established with univariate Cox regression and LASSO regression analysis. CRC patients' overall survival was significantly lower in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group for both training and validation set. Among the ten hub genes identified from the PPI network, four target butyrate metabolism-related genes were identified containing FN1, SERPINE1, THBS2, and COMP, which might provide novel markers or targets for treating CRC patients. Eighteen butyrate metabolism-related genes were used to develop a risk prognostic model that could be helpful for doctors to predict CRC patients' survival rate. Using this model, it is beneficial to forecast the response of CRC patients to immunotherapy and chemotherapy, thus making it easier to custom tailor cancer chemotherapy and immunotherapy to the individual patient.
结直肠癌(CRC)是全球最常见恶性肿瘤中发病率排名第三的肿瘤。大量研究表明,丁酸盐在多种人类癌症类型中作为抗肿瘤剂具有很大的潜力。然而,丁酸盐在 CRC 肿瘤发生和进展中的研究仍然不足。在这项研究中,我们通过研究丁酸盐代谢在治疗 CRC 中的作用来探索治疗策略。首先,我们从分子特征数据库(MSigDB)中确定了 348 个与丁酸盐代谢相关的基因(BMRGs)。接下来,我们从癌症基因组图谱(TCGA)数据库下载了 473 个 CRC 和 41 个标准结直肠组织样本,以及来自基因表达综合数据库(GEO)的 GSE39582 数据集的转录组数据。然后,我们通过差异分析评估了与丁酸盐代谢相关的基因在 CRC 中的表达模式。通过单变量 Cox 回归和最小绝对值收缩和选择算子(LASSO)分析,基于差异表达的 BMRGs 构建了一个预后模型。此外,我们还发现了一个 CRC 患者的独立预后标志物。根据鉴定的 BMRGs 的表达水平和系数,计算了所有 CRC 样本的风险评分。利用高低风险组中差异表达的基因,我们还构建了一个蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用(PPI)网络,以可视化蛋白质之间的相互作用。通过 PPI 网络的结果,我们从十个枢纽基因中筛选出差异表达的靶向丁酸盐代谢相关基因。最后,我们对这些靶基因进行了临床相关性分析、免疫细胞浸润分析和突变分析。在所有 CRC 样本中筛选出 173 个差异表达的丁酸盐代谢相关基因。通过单变量 Cox 回归和 LASSO 回归分析建立了预后模型。训练集和验证集的 CRC 患者的总生存率在高危组显著低于低危组。在 PPI 网络中鉴定的十个枢纽基因中,确定了四个包含 FN1、SERPINE1、THBS2 和 COMP 的靶向丁酸盐代谢相关基因,这些基因可能为治疗 CRC 患者提供新的标志物或靶点。使用 18 个丁酸盐代谢相关基因构建风险预后模型有助于医生预测 CRC 患者的生存率。使用该模型有利于预测 CRC 患者对免疫治疗和化疗的反应,从而更容易为个体患者定制癌症化疗和免疫治疗。