Novel role of Sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase 2 in development of colorectal cancer and its regulation by F36, a curcumin analog

Sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) enzymes play important roles in several signal transduction pathways that control proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Here, we reported that SERCA2 expression was positively correlated with tumor node metastasis (TNM) stages (n = 75, P = 0.0251) and grades (n = 63, P = 0.0146) of patients with colorectal cancer. The animal experiments demonstrated that SERCA2 expression was consistent with PCNA staining of intestinal tissues of male C57BL/6J-ApcMin/JNju mice. Besides, SERCA2 expression was also increased in undifferentiated HT-29 cells as compared with that in differentiated HT-29 gal cells. Moreover, SERCA2 overexpression promoted proliferation and migration of SW480 cells via activating MAPK and AKT signaling pathways, while silence of SERCA2 inhibited the proliferation and migration of SW480 cells. In addition, we identified that a curcumin analog, F36, exhibited more potent inhibitory effect in colorectal cancer cells than curcumin through inhibiting SERCA2 expression. Taken together, our findings indicate that SERCA2 is involved in the malignant progress of colorectal cancer and maybe a therapeutic target for colorectal cancer treatment. Curcumin analog F36 shows enhanced anti-cancer activity in colorectal cancer cells by targeting SERCA2.