The challenge of determining the impact of FUT3 tumor-associated polymorphism rs2306969 (-6951 C> T) in invasive breast cancer cells

Polymorphism of fucosyltransferase 3 gene is associated with inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review

Background

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a condition with an unclear genetic basis. Fucosyltransferase 3 (FUT3) could potentially be linked to IBD susceptibility.

Objective

To investigate the association between FUT3 gene polymorphisms and IBD.

Methods

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 checklist and Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study (PICOS) guidelines, case-control studies published until April 30, 2020 was searched. Two independent reviewers conducted screening, data extraction, and quality assessment using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analysis, sensitivity analysis, and Egger tests were performed using RevMan and Stata12.0.

Results

The review included 5 articles and 12 case-control studies involving 1712 IBD patients and 1903 controls. The meta-analysis revealed the following combined odds ratios [95% confidence intervals]: rs3745635 genotype (GA+AA vs GG) 0.84 (0.72-0.97), (GG+GA vs AA) 1.93 (1.23-3.05), (GG vs AA) 2.38 (1.52-3.74), (A vs G) 0.84 (0.73-0.96); rs3894326 genotype (TA+AA vs TT) 1.03 (0.87-1.23), (TT+TA vs AA) 1.19 (0.56-2.51), (TT vs AA) 1.19 (0.56-2.51), (A vs T) 1.02 (0.86-1.20); rs28362459 genotype (TG+GG vs TT) 0.98 (0.85-1.12), (TT+TG vs GG) 1.20 (0.90-1.61), (TT vs GG) 1.21 (0.90-1.62), (G vs T) 0.96 (0.86-1.07). Sensitivity analysis indicated the stability of the results, and Egger analysis showed no significant publication bias.

Conclusions

The rs3745635 gene polymorphism may be associated with IBD susceptibility, whereas the rs3894326 and rs28362459 gene polymorphisms may not be associated with IBD.

Correlations of FUT3 gene polymorphisms with colon polyps

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between fut3 gene polymorphism and colonic polyps.

METHODS

Two hundred patients with colonic polyps and 200 healthy people in our hospital in recent 3 years were taken as the research objects, as the disease group and the control group, respectively. The disease group was divided into cancerous colonic polyps group (n = 50) and non-cancerous colonic polyps group (n = 150).    The peripheral blood nucleated cells of the subjects were collected and isolated. The fut3 gene polymorphism was obtained by sequencing and analyzed combined with the expression of fut3 gene and the level of tumor markers.

RESULTS

The frequency of allele C at rs2561796 locus in the disease group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The frequency of Ag genotype at rs441158 locus in the disease group was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the frequency of Ca genotype at rs2561796 locus was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). In the disease group, the frequency of AA + Ag in the dominant model at rs441158 was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the frequency of Ca + AA in the invisible model at rs2561796 was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The frequency of CGC haplotype in the disease group was higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The linkage disequilibrium of rs441158 and rs2561796 loci of fut3 gene was high (d' = 0.423). The genotype of rs372725 of fut3 gene was correlated with the expression of fut3 gene (P < 0.05). The expression of fut3 gene in patients with CC genotype was significantly higher than that in patients with other genotypes (P < 0.05).   Conclusion: fut3 gene polymorphism is associated with the susceptibility and carcinogenesis of colonic polyps.

High FUT3 expression is a marker of lower overall survival of breast cancer patients

The complex enzyme network responsible for glycan synthesis suffers significant changes during the first steps of tumor development, leading to the early formation of tumor-associated glycan signatures. Among the glycosylation pathways, changes in fucosylation emerged as one of most important features in cancer. Αlpha-1,3/4-fucosyltransferase (FUT3) has been linked to pro-tumor and anti-tumor pathways depending on the cancer type. The present study aimed to understand the gene and protein expression profiles of FUT3 in three different and independent cohorts composed by invasive breast cancer patients: Local Brazilian population, METABRIC and TCGA. FUT3 transcripts and protein were measured in the Brazilian population by real-time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Clinical records and FUT3 levels from public METABRIC and TCGA cohorts were accessed through CBioPortal database. FUT3 expression was analyzed in each cohort using the appropriated statistic tools. Survival meta-analysis in triple negative patients was performed using five independent cohorts including GSE41119, GSE47994 and GSE86945, data obtained from GEO repository available at NCBI database, and METABRIC and TCGA. Our analysis showed that high FUT3 levels were consistently associated to reduced invasive breast cancer patients overall survival. This finding is particularly significant in triple negative patients. These results together with the previously knowledge regarding the involvement of FUT3 in pro-tumor and anti-tumor mechanisms led us to purpose a model for FUT3 expression regulation throughout breast cancer establishment and progression.