Big data mining to screen hub molecular targets related to metabolic abnormalities, intestinal polyps and colorectal cancer

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Intestinal polyps and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are closely related to the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aimed to provide a potential target for the mechanism analysis between the occurrence of intestinal polyps with metabolic abnormalities and the development of CRC. Methods In this study, we used clinical samples of patients with intestinal polyps with MetS (the control group was patients with common intestinal polyps), screened relevant pathways and genes by transcriptome sequencing and public database association analysis, and verified the targets by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results Compared with the control group, 75 up-regulated and 61 down-regulated differential expressed genes (DEGs) were found in MetS patients with polyps. KEGG enrichment showed that these DEGs were mainly involved in cell cycle and mitotic pathways. By association with the public databases CTD and TCGA, 44 CRC-related hub genes were further screened, among which 8 genes showed the same difference trend in the RNA-Seq and GEPIA-COAD databases. Protein interaction analysis showed that PCP4, OLFM1, FN1, TGF-β3 were all related to MAPK signaling pathway. Tumor correlation analysis showed that FN1, PCP4 and TGF-β3 were higher risk genes but OLFM1 was lower risk gene. Immunohistochemical results showed that only OLFM1 was decreased in MetS patients with intestinal polyps. Conclusion In intestinal polyps with MetS, the expression of OLFM1 was reduced and may affect mitosis. Under the influence of MetS and the decrease of OLFM1, exosomes and NF-κB pathway may be involved in this process.