Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr 28;16(9):1322.
doi: 10.3390/nu16091322.

Selenium May Be Involved in Esophageal Squamous Cancer Prevention by Affecting GPx3 and FABP1 Expression: A Case-Control Study Based on Bioinformatic Analysis

Niannian Wang  1 , Da Pan  1 , Xiaopan Zhu  1 , Xingyuan Ren  1 , Xingyi Jin  1 , Xiangjun Chen  1   2 , Yuanyuan Wang  1 , Ming Su  3 , Guiju Sun  1 , Shaokang Wang  1   2
Affiliations

Selenium May Be Involved in Esophageal Squamous Cancer Prevention by Affecting GPx3 and FABP1 Expression: A Case-Control Study Based on Bioinformatic Analysis

Niannian Wang et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The role of selenium in the developmental process of esophageal cancer (EC) requires further investigation. To explore the relationship between selenium-related factors and EC through bioinformatic analysis, a case-control study was conducted to verify the results. Utilizing the GEPIA and TCGA databases, we delineated the differential expression of glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3) in EC and normal tissues, identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and a performed visualization analysis. Additionally, 100 pairs of dietary and plasma samples from esophageal precancerous lesions (EPLs) of esophageal squamous cancer (ESCC) cases and healthy controls from Huai'an district, Jiangsu, were screened. The levels of dietary selenium, plasma selenium, and related enzymes were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) or ELISA kits. The results showed lower GPx3 expression in tumor tissues compared to normal tissues. Further analysis revealed that DEGs were mainly involved in the fat digestion and absorption pathway, and the core protein fatty acid binding protein 1 (FABP1) was significantly upregulated and negatively correlated with GPx3 expression. Our case-control study found that selenium itself was not associated with EPLs risk. However, both the decreased concentration of GPx3 and the increase in FABP1 were positively correlated with the EPLs risk (p for trend = 0.035 and 0.046, respectively). The different expressions of GPx3 and FABP1 reflect the potential of selenium for preventing ESCC at the EPLs stage. GPx3 may affect myocardial infarction through FABP1, which remains to be further studied.

Keywords: FABP1; GPx3; esophageal precancerous lesions; esophagus cancer; selenium.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression of GPx3 in tumor and normal tissues. For better visualization, GPx3 expressions are log-transformed. We use log2(TPM + 1) for log scale. TPM, transcripts per million. * The difference is statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The visualization of the DEGs in low-expression GPx3 vs. high-expression GPx3. (A) The volcano plot of the DEGs, in which red dots represent downregulated genes, green dots represent upregulated genes, and black dots show no differences in gene expression; (B) GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. (C) The top-10 hub DEGs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The correlation of GPx3 and FABP1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Morgan E., Soerjomataram I., Rumgay H., Coleman H.G., Thrift A.P., Vignat J., Laversanne M., Ferlay J., Arnold M. The Global Landscape of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Incidence and Mortality in 2020 and Projections to 2040: New Estimates From GLOBOCAN 2020. Gastroenterology. 2022;163:649–658.e2. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2022.05.054. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wang W.W., Zhao Z.H., Wang L., Li P., Chen K.S., Zhang J.Y., Li W.C., Jiang G.Z., Li X.N. MicroRNA-134 prevents the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via the PLXNA1-mediated MAPK signalling pathway. eBioMedicine. 2019;46:66–78. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.07.050. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bray F., Laversanne M., Sung H.Y.A., Ferlay J., Siegel R.L., Soerjomataram I., Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2024 doi: 10.3322/caac.21834. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zheng R.S., Chen R., Han B.F., Wang S.M., Li L., Sun K.X., Zeng H.M., Wei W.W., He J. Cancer incidence and mortality in China, 2022. Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi [Chin. J. Oncol.] 2024;46:221–231. doi: 10.3760/cma.j.cn112152-20240119-00035. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arnal M.J.D., Arenas A.F., Arbeloa A.L. Esophageal cancer: Risk factors, screening and endoscopic treatment in Western and Eastern countries. World J. Gastroenterol. 2015;21:7933–7943. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i26.7933. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms