Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is considered to be the most prevalent malignant tumors that contribute to high cancer-related mortality. However, the signaling pathways involved in CRC and CRC-driven genes are largely unknown. We seek to discover a novel biomarker in CRC.
Materials and methods: All clinical CRC samples (n=33) were from Xiangya Hospital. We first selected CCNA2 by integrated bioinformatics analysis of four GSE databases. Next, the expression of CCNA2 in tissues and cell lines was verified by quantitative real-time PCR. The effects of CCNA2 on cell growth, proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis were examined by in vitro assays.
Results: We identified 498 shared DEGs (294 upregulated and 204 downregulated), and the top ten hub genes were selected by integrated analysis. These hub genes were significantly overexpressed in CRC samples and were positively correlated. Our data revealed that the expression of CCNA2 in CRC tissues is higher than that in normal tissues. The CCNA2 knockdown could significantly suppress CRC cell growth by impairing cell cycle progression and inducing cell apoptosis.
Conclusion: CCNA2, as a novel oncogenic gene, plays a role in regulating cancer cell growth and apoptosis. It could be used as a new biomarker for diagnosis and therapy in CRC.
Keywords: CCNA2; apoptosis; bioinformatics analysis; cell cycle; colorectal cancer; proliferation.