Changes in the Expression of SGO1 and SGO1-AS1 Genes in Colorectal Tumor Tissues, Compared to Healthy Tissues

The protein encoded by the SGO1 gene is a member of the shugoshin family of proteins and protects the centromere during mitosis. lncRNAs are non-coding RNA with 200 nucleotides lengths, i.e., involved in regulating gene expression. The current study aimed to evaluate the expression of SGO1 and SGO1-AS1 in different stages of disease progression; we also compared their expression pattern in tumor tissues with healthy tissues in colorectal cancer patients.

In total, 40 tissue samples of patients with colorectal cancer were reported according to the examination and criteria with the approval of a pathologist. Besides, 40 normal tissues were sampled from a completely healthy part of the intestine of the same patients. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, the Real-time RT-PCR technique was used to evaluate the expression of the desired genes in the study groups. ROC curve analysis was also used to determine the ability of each selected gene to diagnose the disease. 
Ethical Considerations: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shahrekord Azad University (Code: IR.IAU.SHKREC.1398.020).

The obtained data suggested that SGO1 significantly decreased in the colorectal cancer tumor samples (P<0.001) and SGO1-AS1 LncRNA significantly increased expression, compared to adjacent healthy tissues. Additionally, in the age group of below 60 years, compared to the age group of over 60 years, SGO1 expression increased and SGO1-AS1 expression decreased. Based on the AUC obtained from the ROC diagram, it was found that the SGO1 gene with AUC=0.8041 and SGO1-AS1 with AUC=0.6364 could significantly distinguish a healthy population from patients with colorectal cancer.

 According to the collected results, SGO1 -AS1 and SGO1 were significantly reduced and increased in tumor tissue, respectively; however, only the SGO1 gene was introduced as a good marker for diagnosing colorectal cancer.