Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
2
Research Institute of Cellular and Molecular Sciences in Infectious Diseases, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
3
Department of General Surgery, Clinical Immunology Research Center, Ali-Ebne Abitaleb Hospital, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
4
Department of Internal Medicine, Clinical Immunology Research Center, Ali-Ebne Abitaleb Hospital, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
10.22111/jep.2026.54572.1105
Abstract
Dysregulation of DNA repair-related genes plays a crucial role in colorectal cancer development. The Excision Repair Cross-Complementation (ERCC) gene family, CHD1L, and ITGB7 are directly or indirectly related to DNA repair mechanisms. This study aimed to evaluate the putative diagnostic values of ERCC3, ERCC4, ERCC5, ERCC6, CHD1L, and ITGB7 genes in patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma (COAD). In this cross-sectional study, paired tumor and adjacent non-tumor colon tissues were collected from 20 adult patients with pathologically confirmed COAD between June 2022 and March 2023 in Zahedan, Iran. Differential expression was assessed using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Data were analyzed using SPSS 27 and GraphPad Prism 10.2.3. Complementary bioinformatics analyses were performed using GTEx, UALCAN, and the Human Protein Atlas databases. The experimental results showed that ERCC4 (+16.37%, p < 0.001), ERCC5 (+18.66%, p < 0.001), and ERCC6 (+8.78%, p < 0.001) were significantly upregulated in tumor tissues, while ERCC3 (-9.05%, p < 0.001), CHD1L (-11.48%, p < 0.001), and ITGB7 (-4.59%, p < 0.001) were downregulated. In tumor samples, only a significant positive correlation was observed between ERCC5 and ITGB7 (r = 0.59, p = 0.006). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves predicted that all genes have significant diagnostic values for CRC; ERCC4 (area under the ROC curve (AUC) = 0.915) and ERCC5 (AUC = 0.958) were “outstanding”; CHD1L (AUC = 0.846) was “excellent”; ERCC3 (AUC = 0.713), ERCC6 (AUC = 0.784), and ITGB7 (AUC = 0.711) were “acceptable”. Overall, our experimental and bioinformatics findings suggested that the expression profiles of ERCC3, ERCC4, ERCC5, ERCC6, CHD1L, and ITGB7 exhibit strong diagnostic potential relevance in COAD. However, further functional studies are required to uncover these mechanisms.
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