Functional genetic variant of HSD17B12 in the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway predicts the outcome of colorectal cancer.

Fatty acids are involved in the development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, genetic effects of fatty acid biosynthesis pathway on CRC outcome are unclear. Cox regression model was used to evaluate genetic effects on CRC overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), accompanied by calculating hazard ratios (HRs) and confidence intervals (CIs). Differential expression analysis, expression quantitative trait loci analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay were performed to explore the genetically biological mechanism. The rs10838164 C>T in HSD17B12 was significantly associated with an increased risk of death and progression of CRC (OS, HR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.40-3.22, P = 4.03 × 10-4 ; PFS, HR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.11-2.44, P = 1.35 × 10-2 ), of which T allele could increase HSD17B12 expression (P = 1.78 × 10-11 ). Subsequently, the functional experiments indicated that rs10838164 T allele could not only enhance the binding affinity of transcription factor YY1 to HSD17B12 region harbouring rs10838164 but also promote the transcriptional activity of HSD17B12, which was significantly up-regulated in colorectal tumour tissues. Our findings suggest that genetic variants in fatty acid biosynthesis pathway play an important role in CRC outcome.