Kim M, Jeong HJ, Ju HM, Song JY, Jang SJ, Choi J. Overexpression of the NEK9-EG5 axis is a novel metastatic marker in pathologic stage T3 colon cancer.
Sci Rep 2023;
13:342. [PMID:
36611072 PMCID:
PMC9825400 DOI:
10.1038/s41598-022-26249-0]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
NEK9 is a key player in the NEK9-EG5 axis for microtubule polymerization, chromosome alignment, and mitosis. In present study, we investigated the altered expression of the NEK9, EG5 and acetyl-α-tubulin as well as common epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers (E-cadherin, vimentin, claudin-1, and β-catenin) through the immunohistochemistry analysis of 138 patients with pathologic T3 (pT3) stage colon cancers, and evaluated their metastatic potential. NEK9 expression showed an association with distant metastasis (P = 0.032) and was an independent predictive factor for distant metastasis (HR = 3.365, P < 0.001) by multivariate analysis, which was more significant than either the regional nodal metastasis (HR = 2.496, P = 0.007) or lymphovascular invasion (HR = 2.090, P = 0.153). Positive correlations were observed between NEK9 and EG5 or acetyl-α-tubulin (r = 0.236 and P = 0.007; r = 0.181 and P = 0.038, respectively) and concordant overexpression of the NEK9-EG5 axis was further confirmed in colon cancer cell lines. These findings collectively suggest that the overexpression of the NEK9-EG5 axis is present and associated with distant metastasis in colon cancer. These biomarkers might be useful for predicting metastatic potential among the patients with pT3 colon cancers.
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