KIN enhances stem cell-like properties to promote chemoresistance in colorectal carcinoma

Chemotherapy is widely used in colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment, especially in advanced stage patients. However, it is inevitable to develop chemoresistance. Recently, cancer cells acquired stem cell-like properties or cancer stem cells (CSC) were proved to attribute to chemoresistance. Here, we found that KIN protein was elevated in CRC cell lines and tissue specimens as compared to normal controls. Upregulation of KIN positively correlates with the metastatic status of CRC patients. Patients with high KIN expression showed poor prognosis and were with a short survival time. Overexpression of KIN enhanced, while silencing KIN impaired, chemoresistance to oxaliplatin (Ox) or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in CRC cell lines. Further investigation demonstrated that overexpression of KIN rendered CRC cells enriching CSC markers and CSC phenotype, and silencing KIN reduced CSC markers and CSC phenotype. Our findings suggest that the KIN level may be a suitable marker for predicting chemotherapy response in CRC, and silencing KIN plus chemotherapy may be a novel therapy for CRC treatment.