Background: The 5-adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an emerging cancer treatment and therapeutic target. Due to the enzyme's complexity and dual nature, it is a confounding target in the treatment strategy. The study aimed to conduct an integrative analysis of the seven subunits and twelve isoforms of AMPK, which is not reported so far in colorectal adenocarcinoma patients.
Methodology: The web-based tools UALCAN, Timer 2.0, KM Plotter, cBioPortal, COSMIC, and STRING were used to investigate the differential expression of AMPK subunits, protein-level Expression, promoter methylation status, survival analyses, Enrichment analysis, and protein-protein interaction.
Results: The mRNA expression of AMPK subunits are upregulated in Colorectal Adeno Carcinoma (COAD), while the protein expression is comparatively reduced in colon tumors. The protein-level expression of α2 and β2 is decreased significantly in COAD patients. The γ3 subunit in colon tumor is hypermethylated. The study also reports that Liver Kinase B1 mutation in 7% of CRC patients, which might be the reason for downregulation of the gene and the protein expression of AMPK subunits in COAD.
Conclusion: The Overall analysis of the subunits affirms that AMPK expression is beneficial in cancer.
Keywords: AMPK; Protein expression; Survival Analysis; colorectal cancer; differential gene expression.