Overexpression of ELL-associated factor 2 suppresses invasion, migration, and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer

Ming-Liang Feng; Can Wu; Hui-Jing Zhang; Huan Zhou; Tai-Wei Jiao; Meng-Yuan Liu; Ming-Jun Sun

doi:10.4251/wjgo.v14.i10.1949

Overexpression of ELL-associated factor 2 suppresses invasion, migration, and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer

World J Gastrointest Oncol. 2022 Oct 15;14(10):1949-1967. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v14.i10.1949.

Authors

Ming-Liang Feng¹, Can Wu¹, Hui-Jing Zhang¹, Huan Zhou¹, Tai-Wei Jiao¹, Meng-Yuan Liu¹, Ming-Jun Sun²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Endoscopy, The First Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China.
² Department of Endoscopy, The First Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China. sunydyy@163.com.

Abstract

Background: The androgen responsive gene, ELL-associated factor 2 (EAF2), expressed in benign prostate tissues, has been shown to play an important role in tumor suppression in a variety of malignant tumors. In addition, some scholars found that EAF2 frameshift mutations are associated with intratumor heterogeneity in colorectal cancer (CRC) and inactivation of EAF2 in microsatellite instability-high CRC. However, the molecular mechanism by which EAF2 is involved in CRC invasion and metastasis remains unclear.

Aim: To determine the clinical value of expression of EAF2 protein in CRC, and to study the effects of EAF2 on the invasion, migration, and angiogenesis of CRC cells in vitro.

Methods: In this study, we collected colorectal adenocarcinoma and corresponding adjacent tissues to investigate the clinical expression of EAF2 protein in patients with advanced CRC. Subsequently, we investigated the effect of EAF2 on the invasion, migration, and angiogenesis of CRC cells in vitro using plasmid transfection.

Results: EAF2 protein was lowly expressed in cancer tissues of patients with advanced CRC. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the survival rate of the high EAF2 level group was higher than that of the low EAF2 level group.

Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that EAF2, as a tumor suppressor, may inhibit the invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis of CRC cells by regulating the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3/transforming growth factor-β1 crosstalk pathway, and play a cancer suppressive and protective role in the occurrence and development of CRC. Our findings are of great significance to provide a new idea and theoretical basis for the targeted diagnosis and treatment of CRC.

Keywords: Angiogenesis; Colorectal cancer; ELL-associated factor 2; Invasion; Migration; Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; Transforming growth factor-β1.