Cuproptosis-Related Gene FDX1 Suppresses the Growth and Progression of Colorectal Cancer by Retarding EMT Progress

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a usual cancer and a kind of lethiferous cancer. Cuproptosis-related gene ferredoxin 1 (FDX1) has been discovered to act as a suppressor, thereby suppressing some cancers’ progression. But, the regulatory functions of FDX1 in CRC progression keep vague. In this work, at first, through TCGA database, it was revealed that FDX1 exhibited lower expression in COAD (colon adenocarcinoma) tissues, and CRC patients with lower FDX1 expression had worse prognosis. Furthermore, FDX1 expression was verified to be down-regulated in CRC tissues (n = 30) and cells. It was further uncovered that FDX1 expression was positively correlated with CDH1 and TJP1 (epithelial marker), and negatively correlated with CDH2, TWIST1, and FN1 (stromal marker), suggesting that FDX1 was closely associated with the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) progress. Next, it was demonstrated that overexpression of FDX1 suppressed cell viability, invasion, and migration in CRC. Furthermore, it was verified that FDX1 retarded the EMT progress in CRC. Lastly, through rescue assays, the inhibited CRC progression mediated by FDX1 overexpression was rescued by EGF (EMT inducer) treatment. At last, it was uncovered that the tumor growth and metastasis were relieved after FDX1 overexpression, but these changes were reversed after EGF treatment. In conclusion, FDX1 inhibited the growth and progression of CRC by inhibiting EMT progress. This discovery hinted that FDX1 may act as an effective candidate for CRC treatment.