Abstract
Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has long been recognized as one of the most important processes involved in cancer cells metastasis. SNAI1, a member of zinc-finger transcriptional factor family, has been identified as an EMT inducer, but its role in human colorectal cancer (CRC) remains largely unclear.Methods: In the present study, we made a synthesis of the expression of zinc-finger transcription factor family and investigate the prognostic value of SNAI1 in human CRC by using a series of bioinformatic tools.Results: SNAI1 is the only member of zinc-finger transcription factor family that frequently overexpressed in CRC. In addition, overexpression of SNAI1 was remarkably associated with high tumor stage, N classification and M classification in patients with CRC. Patients with high SNAI1 expression had worse prognosis than those with low SNAI1 expression. Moreover, cox regression analysis showed that SNAI1 was an independent risk factor for overall survival in CRC patients. KEGG pathway analysis showed that SNAI1 enriched in pathways of Focal adhesion, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and ECM-receptor interaction. GO analysis revealed that SNAI1 participated in processes of extracellular matrix organization, cell adhesion and collagen catabolic process. Eventually, co-expression analysis revealed that overexpression of SNAI1 was significantly correlated with Biglycan (BGN), indicating that they may cooperate in regulating the process of EMT, thereby inducing cancer cells metastasis.Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that SNAI1 is overexpressed in CRC and acts as an independent molecular marker for prognosis of CRC patients. SNAI1 is a potential biomarker for diagnosis, targeted therapy and prognostic evaluation of CRC.
Stress tolerance to stress escape in plants: role of the OXS2 zinc-finger transcription factor family
