Suppression MGP inhibits tumor proliferation and reverses oxaliplatin resistance in colorectal cancer

Matrix Gla protein (MGP), an extracellular matrix protein, has been widely reported to participate in the tumorigenic process and is abnormally expressed in several tumors. However, the role of MGP in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. Chemotherapy resistance represents a significant limitation in the treatment of CRC. Here, a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis revealed that MGP, which is overexpressed in CRC, might act as one of the critical genes conferring resistance to oxaliplatin (OXA). Furthermore, we found that MGP overexpression in tumor tissue might be correlated with cancer stage and patient prognosis, consistent with the bioinformatics analysis. The upregulation of MGP may act as an independent risk factor for CRC. The knockdown of MGP or inhibition of MGP expression significantly increased the sensitivity of the CRC cell lines to OXA. Suppression of MGP may reverse OXA resistance by upregulating copper transporter 1 (CTR1) and downregulating ATP7A and ATP7B. When used in combination with OXA, the inhibition of MGP reduced cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and migration and increased cell apoptosis in vitro. Suppression of MGP or OXA treatment alone significantly inhibited tumor growth in the CRC mouse model. Additionally, we found that OXA might promote the antitumor immune response in vivo. In summary, our study is the first to provide evidence that MGP expression confers OXA chemotherapy resistance in CRC and provides novel strategies to overcome chemotherapy resistance in CRC.