Effective prediction of potential ferroptosis critical genes in clinical colorectal cancer

• Published in: Frontiers in oncology 2022-10, Vol.12, p.1033044
• Main Authors: Huang, Hongliang, Dai, Yuexiang, Duan, Yingying, Yuan, Zhongwen, Li, Yanxuan, Zhang, Maomao, Zhu, Wenting, Yu, Hang, Zhong, Wenfei, Feng, Senling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: bioinformatics; colon cancer; data mining; differentially expressed genes; ferroptosis; lipid peroxidation; Oncology
• ISSN: 2234-943X; 2234-943X
• DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1033044

Colon cancer is common worldwide, with high morbidity and poor prognosis. Ferroptosis is a novel form of cell death driven by the accumulation of iron-dependent lipid peroxides, which differs from other programmed cell death mechanisms. Programmed cell death is a cancer hallmark, and ferroptosis is known to participate in various cancers, including colon cancer. Novel ferroptosis markers and targeted colon cancer therapies are urgently needed. To this end, we performed a preliminary exploration of ferroptosis-related genes in colon cancer to enable new treatment strategies. Ferroptosis-related genes in colon cancer were obtained by data mining and screening for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using bioinformatics analysis tools. We normalized the data across four independent datasets and a ferroptosis-specific database. Identified genes were validated by immunohistochemical analysis of pathological and healthy clinical samples. We identified DEGs in colon cancer that are involved in ferroptosis. Among these, five core genes were found: , , , , and . Bioinformatics analyses revealed that the expression of all five genes, except for , was higher in tumor tissues than in healthy tissues. The preliminary exploration of the five core genes revealed that they are differentially expressed in colon cancer, playing an essential role in ferroptosis. This study provides a foundation for subsequent research on ferroptosis in colon cancer.