Expression profiles of radio-resistant genes in colorectal cancer cells

Abstract

Abstract Objective To develop new biomarkers for radio-resistance in colorectal cancer (CRC) to improve radiotherapy efficacy at lower position and late phase of CRC patients. Methods The human CRC cell lines were irradiated by a total dose of 40 Gy. RAN-seq screened differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to radio-resistance. Bioinformatics analysis located the genes playing a vital role in radio-resistance. Ultimately, the genetic expressions were verified by qPCR. Results A totol of 3,823 radio-resistance genes were found in RKO cells and 4,057 DEGs were in HCT116 cells, compared with the same type cells without radiation treatment. Data of enrichment analysis showed that DEGs obtained from two cell lines were mainly involved in cell cycle, cell division, cell skeleton, cell adhesion, DNA replication, DNA damage and DNA repair, and enrichment of glycometabolism, p53 and HIF-1 signaling pathways. The 10 candidate biomarkers were predicted according to the interaction with each other, and 5 genes( CD44, CXCL-8, ITGA5, ITGB8 and STAT1) were confirmed markedly up-regulated in two cell lines. Conclusions Radio-resistance of CRC cells induced by X-irradiation changed the variety of genes expression, and those nodes among these genes network interaction may play core regulatory roles, which will provide new therapeutic strategies for clinical radiotherapy.