The Transcriptomic and Genomic Analysis of Lamin A/C Expression in the Colon and in Colorectal Cancer

Lamins A and C, also known as A-type lamins, are type V nuclear intermediate filament proteins which form an interlacing meshwork of filaments subjacent to the inner nuclear membrane termed the nuclear lamina. A-type lamins have been implicated in DNA replication, gene transcription regulation, apoptosis, regulation of growth promoters and nuclear migration. Traditionally, expression of A-type lamins has been associated with differentiated cells. As such, mutations in A-type lamins have been associated with a diverse range of genetic diseases, including premature ageing syndromes and with increased proliferation, especially in tumours. In colorectal cancer, expression of A-type lamins, have been shown to impart an adverse prognosis. In order to understand the underlying biological processes responsible for this adverse outcome in patients with colorectal cancer, I sought to clarify the expression profile of A-type lamins and their binding partners in normal colonic/rectal mucosa, prior to investigating the expression of A-type lamins in colorectal cancers. I used fresh tissue specimens obtained from patients with colorectal cancer for my experiments. A unique finding was the expression of lamin A in the putative stem cell niche of colonic / rectal mucosal crypts. Further studies in the form of a microarray analysis, revealed a very complex picture of up regulation involving various signalling cascades in the cancer samples expressing A-type lamins. There was no evidence to suggest a direct involvement of A-type lamins influencing the Wnt signalling cascade, however, direct involvement of other signalling cascades, such as the IGF signalling cascade, Shh signalling cascade and TGF-β signalling cascades were noted. These signalling cascades were known to influence the Wnt signalling cascades and hence could play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancers expressing A-type lamins. In addition to these important signalling cascades, other key genes involved in apoptosis, growth promoters, cell adhesion, stem cell regulation, oncogenes and tumour suppression, were noted to have a unique expression profile in the cancer sample expressing A-type lamins, not observed in the cancer sample lacking A-type lamin expression. These observations were suggestive of A-type lamins having a diverse range of actions via, as yet, undefined pathways. It would appear that A-type lamins were imparting a more motile, less adherent phenotype with stem cell like features in colorectal cancers expressing A-type lamins. This could explain the observed poor prognosis of patients with colorectal cancers expressing A-type lamins. Creatine kinase brain (CKB), was also identified as an additional, potential, prognostic indicator in the Duke’s B group of patients with colorectal cancer expressing A-type lamins. This potential marker, in conjunction with A-type lamin expression could be used to identify a sub group of Duke’s B patients at high risk. Whether adjuvant therapy in this group would help improve their long term survival is unknown since no study has been done to assess this.