Expression of DUSP4 Transcript Variants As A Potential Biomarker for Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Aim: To provide novel data on the expression of DUSP4 transcripts in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and to explore their potential as biomarkers. Materials & methods:DUSP4 transcripts expression was determined by quantitative real-time PCR in tissues from 28 CRC patients. Their association with clinicopathological factors and survival analysis was performed. Data from 380 CRC patients available at The Cancer Genome Atlas project were also analyzed. Results: All transcripts were overexpressed in CRC tissues. Variant X1 was the most upregulated and associated with KRAS mutations and poorly differentiated tumor. Overexpression of DUSP4 transcripts could distinguish all tumor stages from normal tissues. Similar results were found in The Cancer Genome Atlas cohort. Conclusion:DUSP4 transcripts have the potential to serve as diagnostic biomarkers for CRC, particularly variant X1.

Keywords:

• biomarker
• colorectal cancer
• DUSP4
• gene expression
• transcript variants

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.2217/bmm-2020-0369

Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the support of the Portuguese Society of Gastroenterology and are grateful to all the patients for their participation. The results shown here are in part based upon data generated by TCGA Research Network: https://www.cancer.gov/tcga. Authors also thank the staff of the BIOSKEL laboratory (CCMAR), in particular D Varela for assistance in the course of real-time PCR experiments and H Caiado for assistance with the RNA extraction.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This study received national funds from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project UIDB/04326/2020 (CCMAR). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This study received national funds from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project UIDB/04326/2020 (CCMAR). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.