SLC25A24, a potential and novel biomarker for diagnosing colorectal cancer

Abstract Background: Solute carrier family 25 member 24 (SLC25A24) is a member of the mitochondrial solute vector (MSC) protein superfamily. More and more evidence suggested that SLC family members play an extremely important role in cancers. However, the biological function of SLC25A24 in colorectal cancer has not been reported. Methods: TCGA, GEO, UALCAN, Sangebox3.0 and TIDE databases were used to analyze SLC25A24 in colorectal cancer. The expression of SLC25A24 in 83 pairs of colorectal cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry. qRT-PCR, Western blotting and apoptosis assays were used to explore the biological function of SLC25A24 in colorectal cancer. Results: Through analysis of multiple databases, we found that SLC25A24 expression was higher in colorectal cancer than in adjacent normal tissues, and higher expression of SLC25A24 had a better prognosis. This was verified by clinical case analysis. In addition, based on multiple algorithms of immune infiltration, we found that SLC25A24 was significantly associated with immune infiltration in colorectal cancer. SLC25A24 was significantly associated with clinicopathological features in 83 patients with colorectal cancer. Importantly, SLC25A24 knockdown significantly promoted the apoptosis ability of colorectal cancer cells. In addition, we also found that lower expression of SLC25A24 was associated with poor prognosis and low immunotherapy sensitivity in patients with colorectal cancer. Therefore, SLC25A24 might be a biomarker for the treatment of colorectal cancer. Conclusion: In summary, we found that SLC25A24 was higher expression in colorectal cancer than in adjacent normal tissues, and higher expression of SLC25A24 had a better prognosis. Importantly, we found that SLC25A24 inhibited apoptosis of colorectal cancer cells. In addition, SLC25A24 was associated with immune infiltration of colorectal cancer. Patients with lower expression of SLC25A24 were more prone to immune escape, while patients with higher expression of SLC25A24 were more conducive to immunotherapy. These results suggested that SLC25A24 might be a potential therapeutic target for patients with colorectal cancer.