The Clinical and Prognostic Significance of Protein Arginine Deiminases 2 and 4 in Colorectal Cancer
<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Protein arginine deiminases (PADIs) are a family of enzymes that catalyse the post-translational modification of proteins. Association between PADI expression and clinicopathology, protein expression, and outcome was determined. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> PADI2 and PADI4 expression was assessed immunohistochemically in a cohort of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. <b><i>Results:</i></b> CRC tissues expressed variable levels of PADI2 which was mainly localised in the cytoplasm and correlated with patient survival (<i>p</i> = 0.005); high expression increased survival time from 43.5 to 67.6 months. Expression of cytoplasmic PADI2 correlated with the expression of nuclear β catenin, PADI4, and alpha-enolase. In contrast, expression of nuclear PADI2 correlated with a decrease in survival (<i>p</i> = 0.010), with high expression decreasing survival from 76.4 to 42.9 months. CRC tissues expressed variable levels of PADI4 in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. Expression of cytoplasmic PADI4 correlated with survival (<i>p</i> = 0.001) with high expression increasing survival time from 48.1 to 71.8 months. Expression of cytoplasmic PADI4 correlated with expression of nuclear β catenin, alpha-enolase (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.0001, <i>p</i> = 0.002), and the apoptotic related protein, Bcl-2. Expression of nuclear PADI4 also correlated with survival (<i>p</i> = 0.011), with high expression of nuclear PADI4 increasing survival time from 55.4 to 74 months. Expression of nuclear PADI4 correlated with p53, alpha-enolase, and Bcl-2. Multivariate analysis showed that TNM stage, cytoplasmic PADI2, and PADI4 remained independent prognostic factors in CRC. Both PADI2 and PADI4 are good prognostic factors in CRC. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> High expression of cytoplasmic PADI2, PADI4, and nuclear PADI4 were associated with an increase in overall survival.