Overexpression of DSCR1 prevents proliferation and predicts favorable prognosis in colorectal cancer patients

OBJECTIVES: Down syndrome critical region 1 (DSCR1) is associated with carcinogenesis and tumor growth in several types of malignancy. However, little is known about the role of DSCR1 in CRC progression. The present study aimed to elucidate the clinicopathological significance, prognostic, and function roles of DSCR1 in CRC. METHODS: Firstly, we analyzed DSCR1 expression in 58 paired CRC samples and Oncomine database. Then, we analyzed DSCR1 expression in two independent CRC cohorts (test cohort: n = 70; validation cohort: n = 58) and tested its overall survival (OS) by Kaplan-Meier survival analyses. Finally, we overexpressed DSCR1 in two CRC cell lines DLD1 and LoVo and analyzed its effect on cell cycle and senescence. RESULTS: DSCR1 expression was significantly decreased in CRC samples and associated with clinicopathologic features of CRC patients, such as tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage. CRC patients with low expression of DSCR1 had shorter overall survival (OS). Kaplan-Meier survival analyses showed that the expression of DSCR1 was significant factor for OS in both cohorts. Multiple Cox regression analysis showed that DSCR1 expression was an independent prognostic marker for OS in test cohort. Overexpression of DSCR1 isoform 4 (DSCR1-4) increased p21, p16, p-NFAT1, and p-NFAT2, while decreased CDK2, CDK4, and Cyclin D1 in CRC cells. In addition, overexpression of DSCR1-4 prevented proliferation and colony formation, and induced senescence in vitro. Moreover, overexpression of DSCR1-4 inhibited tumor growth and tumor angiogenesis in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found high expression of DSCR1 contributes to favorable prognosis of CRC patients and prevents cell cycle and proliferation of CRC cells, indicating a critical tumor suppressive role in CRC progression. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12957-021-02212-7.