Abstract
BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a global health burden because of its high mortalities. It is crucial to discover new biomarkers that can help predict the outcome of patients as well as identify new therapeutic targets to improve treatment options for CRC patients. EGLN1, a protein belonging to the family of prolyl hydroxylase domain-containing proteins, has been associated with the progression of various cancer types. However, its involvement in CRC remains uncertain. METHODS: We conducted an analysis of EGLN1 expression levels in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues using publicly available datasets. EGLN1 expression was also evaluated in relation to patient survival. To explore the potential biological functions and signaling pathways associated with EGLN, we performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). We also investigated the immune landscape of EGLN1 in CRC by examining its association with immune infiltration and immune-related markers. RESULTS: We consistently observed a significant decrease in EGLN1 level in CRC tumor tissues when compared to normal tissues, indicating its potential role as a tumor suppressor gene specific to CRC. The diagnostic potential of EGLN1 was substantiated by its effective discrimination between normal and tumor tissues in patients with CRC. Functional enrichment analysis further uncovered EGLN1's involvement in the regulation of crucial biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions relevant to CRC development and progression. The correlation analysis revealed the potential immunomodulatory role of EGLN1, affecting immune checkpoint molecules, antigen presentation, and immune cell trafficking within the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, high level of EGLN1 exhibited a significant association with improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) and emerged as an independent prognostic factor. Knockdown experiments demonstrated EGLN1's role in suppressing cell proliferation and migration in CRC. CONCLUSION: In summary, our findings position EGLN1 as a promising multi-faceted biomarker in CRC, with implications for prognosis, immune microenvironment modulation, and potential therapeutic targeting.