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Aberrant expression of WNK lysine deficient protein kinase 1 is associated with poor prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma

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Abstract

Backgrounds

WNK1 (WNK lysine deficient protein kinase 1) is a kind of protein kinase and participates in angiogenesis, having a potent tumor promoting role. WNK1 is ubiquitously expressed, and its upregulated expression has been reported in several tumor types.

Aims

Here, we aimed to investigate the correlation between WNK1 expression and colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) progression.

Methods

In the current study, WNK1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemically in adjacent normal colonic mucosae and primary adenocarcinomas. The effect of WNK1 on overall survival (OS) and its associations with the clinicopathological parameters were analyzed in a retrospective cohort of COAD patients (n = 185). The tumor-related effects of WNK1 in COAD were further tested via cellular and mice experiments.

Results

According to our cohort, higher WNK1 expression was significantly associated with unfavorable prognostic factors, such as high pT stage, pN stage, as well as shorter OS. Moreover, WNK1 exhibited tumor promoting role in COAD cancer cell lines as well as in nude mice. Silencing WNK1 can significantly inhibit the proliferation of COAD both in vitro and in vivo.

Conclusions

In all, WNK1 acts as a tumor promoter and may be used as a COAD prognostic biomarker.

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Data availability

Data will be available upon request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Colorectal & Anal Surgery, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

    Huiyuan Jiang

  2. Department of Gynecology, First Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

    Xin Cheng

  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

    Yanjie Liang

  4. Department of Aetiology, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

    Yan Wang

  5. Department of Colorectal & Anal Surgery, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, 29 Shuangtasi Street, Taiyuan, 030012, China

    Yiqun Li & Yaoping Li

Authors
  1. Huiyuan Jiang
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  2. Xin Cheng
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  3. Yanjie Liang
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  4. Yan Wang
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  5. Yiqun Li
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  6. Yaoping Li
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Contributions

Huiyuan Jiang conducted statistical analysis and wrote this manuscript; Xin Cheng and Yanjie Liang collected clinical specimens and performed IHC experiments; Yan Wang and Yiqun Li contributed to cellular assays; Yaoping Li designed this project.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yaoping Li.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Jiang, H., Cheng, X., Liang, Y. et al. Aberrant expression of WNK lysine deficient protein kinase 1 is associated with poor prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma. Ir J Med Sci 192, 57–64 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02916-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02916-5

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