Prognostic Value of Enolase Gene Family in Colon Cancer
Xiaohang Pan, Huawen Wu, Guofu Chen, Wenhuan Li
Abstract
BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer (CRC), the most common gastrointestinal cancer, is associated with high mortality rates. Enolase is a major enzyme present in the glycolytic pathway. However, the functional significance of the enolase (ENO) gene family in the pathogenesis of CRC has been unclear. MATERIAL AND METHODS The data associated with 438 CRC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas database were extracted for analysis. Survival analyses with Cox regression was performed to construct a prognostic signature. We investigated the processes that underlies the correlation between ENO genes and overall survival (OS) using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). We then developed a connectivity map to identify candidate target drugs for CRC. RESULTS The multivariate survival analysis showed that low expression of ENO2 and ENO3 had a significant correlation with longer OS. The joint-effects survival analysis indicated that the combined low expression of ENO2 and ENO3 was highly correlated with favorable OS. As indicated by the gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), the ENO gene is involved in various biological pathways and has multiple roles. Potential pharmacological targets of ENO2 and ENO3 were constructed as well. CONCLUSIONS Low expression levels of both ENO2 and ENO3 were linked to a positive prognosis for CRC. Both ENO2 and ENO3 show promise as prognostic biomarkers for colon cancer patients.