HSPB6 Is Depleted in Colon Cancer Patients and Its Expression Is Induced by 5-aza-2'-Deoxycytidine In Vitro

Background and Objectives: Colon cancer (CC) is the second most common cancer in Saudi Arabia, and the number of new cases is expected to increase by 40% by 2040. Sixty percent of patients with CC are diagnosed in the late stage, causing a reduced survival rate. Thus, identifying a new biomarker could contribute to diagnosing CC in the early stages, leading to delivering better therapy and increasing the survival rate. Materials and Methods: HSPB6 expression was investigated in extracted RNA taken from 10 patients with CC and their adjacent normal tissues, as well as in DMH-induced CC and a colon treated with saline taken from a male Wistar rat. Additionally, the DNA of the LoVo and Caco-2 cell lines was collected, and bisulfite was converted to measure the DNA methylation level. This was followed by applying 5-aza-2' -deoxycytidine (AZA) to the LoVo and Caco-2 cell lines for 72 h to see the effect of DNA methylation on HSPB6 expression. Finally, the GeneMANIA database was used to find the interacted genes at transcriptional and translational levels with HSPB6. Results: We found that the expression of HSPB6 was downregulated in 10 CC tissues compared to their adjacent normal colon tissues, as well as in the in vivo study, where its expression was lower in the colon treated with the DMH agent compared to the colon treated with saline. This suggests the possible role of HSPB6 in tumor progression. Moreover, HSPB6 was methylated in two CC cell lines (LoVo and Caco-2), and demethylation with AZA elevated its expression, implying a mechanistic association between DNA methylation and HSPB6 expression. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that HSPB6 is adversely expressed with tumor progression, and its expression may be controlled by DNA methylation. Thus, HSPB6 could be a good biomarker employed in the CC diagnostic process.