Over-expression of Nav1.6 channels is associated with lymph node metastases in colorectal cancer

Background and objectives Lymph node metastasis is a key factor in predicting and determining the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Sodium channels are highly expressed in a variety of tumors and are closely related to tumor development, metastasis, and invasion. We investigated the relationship between the expressions of different subtypes of Nav channels and lymph node metastasis of CRC. Methods Real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was carried out to measure the expressions of different sodium channel subtypes, chemokine receptors (CCR2, CCR4, CCR7), and lymphocyte infiltration-related biomarkers (CD3e, CD8a, IL-2RA) in CRC tissues from 97 patients. The expressions of Nav1.5 and Nav1.6 in surgically isolated lymph nodes were detected by immunohistochemistry. Correlation analysis between expressions of different genes and lymph node metastasis was performed by two-tailed t test. Results Nav1.1 and Nav1.6 were highly expressed in CRC tissues and positively correlated with CRC lymph node metastasis. Nav1.6 was also highly expressed in metastatic lymph nodes. Further analysis showed that the high expression of Nav1.6 was closely related to the one of CCR2\CCR4 in tumor lymph node metastasis. Conclusions These results suggested that Nav1.6 might be a novel marker for CRC lymph node metastasis.