Open Access

Polo-like kinase 2 promotes chemoresistance and predicts limited survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer

  • Authors:
    • Yuquan Xie
    • Ying Liu
    • Qiubo Li
    • Jianming Chen
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  • Published online on: March 20, 2018     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2018.4328
  • Pages: 1401-1414
  • Copyright: © Xie et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignances worldwide. Chemoresistance remains a major issue in the field of CRC treatment. The present study aimed to investigate the potential role of polo-like kinase 2 (Plk2) in chemoresistance in CRC. The associations between Plk2 and clinicopathological factors, as well as chemotherapeutic benefit were analyzed with a publicly available CRC dataset. The correlation between Plk2 expression and chemosensitivity was further confirmed in CRC cells. Moreover, knockdown and exogenous overexpression experiments of Plk2 were carried out to uncover the potential role of Plk2 in regulating the chemoresistance of CRC cells. We found that the expression of Plk2 was significantly associated with proximally located tumors. In addition, it was found that high expression ofPlk2 was associated with deficient mismatch repair status, B‑raf serine/threonine kinase proto‑oncogeneand Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog mutations. By contrast, tumor protein 53 mutation was correlated with a low expression level of Plk2. A higher expression level of Plk2 significantly predicted a poorer outcome in patients with CRC. However, the prognostic significance was only observed in patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy. In CRC cells, higher levels of Plk2 were associated with increased resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. Knocking down the expression of Plk2 resulted in elevated cellular apoptosis induced by oxaliplatin. By contrast, exogenous overexpression of Plk2 exerted an anti-apoptotic effect and enhanced the resistance of CRC cells to chemotherapeutic agents. In conclusion, a high expression of Plk2 was associated with chemoresistant traits of CRC through inhibiting apoptosis. These results suggested that Plk2 may serve as a predictive marker for chemoresistance and a novel target in CRC treatment.
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May-2018
Volume 52 Issue 5

Print ISSN: 1019-6439
Online ISSN:1791-2423

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Copy and paste a formatted citation
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Spandidos Publications style
Xie Y, Liu Y, Li Q and Chen J: Polo-like kinase 2 promotes chemoresistance and predicts limited survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer. Int J Oncol 52: 1401-1414, 2018.
APA
Xie, Y., Liu, Y., Li, Q., & Chen, J. (2018). Polo-like kinase 2 promotes chemoresistance and predicts limited survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer. International Journal of Oncology, 52, 1401-1414. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2018.4328
MLA
Xie, Y., Liu, Y., Li, Q., Chen, J."Polo-like kinase 2 promotes chemoresistance and predicts limited survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer". International Journal of Oncology 52.5 (2018): 1401-1414.
Chicago
Xie, Y., Liu, Y., Li, Q., Chen, J."Polo-like kinase 2 promotes chemoresistance and predicts limited survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer". International Journal of Oncology 52, no. 5 (2018): 1401-1414. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2018.4328