Background: Nuclear pore membrane protein 121 (POM121) plays a crucial role in nucleocytoplasmic transport, but its significance in tumorigenesis and the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between POM121 and CRC.Methods: POM121 expression in colorectal tissues was analyzed at both the gene and protein levels. We investigated the connection between POM121 expression and clinicopathological features, as well as overall survival. A gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed, and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to determine the mechanism of POM121 in CRC.Results: CRC tissues displayed a striking increase in POM121 expression compared with colonitis and pericarcinomatous mucosa tissues (66.61% vs 24.36% vs 24.11%, respectively, p < 0.0167). POM121 overexpression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, TNM stage, venous invasion, perineural invasion, preoperative CEA and CA19-9 levels, and Ki67 expression. CRC patients with high POM121 levels tended to have poor overall survival rates. POM121 may participate in the regulation of the cell cycle and DNA repair in CRC.Conclusions: Our results suggest that POM121 has the potential to serve as a novel prognostic biomarker in CRC patients.
Keywords: POM121; colorectal cancer; invasion; metastasis; prognosis.