MC1R Is a Prognostic Marker and Its Expression Is Correlated with MSI in Colorectal Cancer

Melanocortin 1 receptor ( ) is thought to be a marker of poor prognosis and a potential target for the treatment of melanoma. Studies have found that promotes several tumor behaviors, including cell proliferation and differentiation, pigment formation, and genome damage repair. Some single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of are involved in the occurrence and development of melanoma. A few studies have reported a relationship between and colorectal cancer (CRC). In this research, our objective was to examine expression and SNPs and investigate their correlation with the clinicopathological features of human CRC tissues. We evaluated mRNA expression by performing bioinformatic analyses on human CRC expression datasets. We used Western blotting and RT-qPCR to compare expression in CRC tissues with that in normal tissues, and SNPs in CRC tissues were detected by PCR-direct sequencing (DS). The expression of was significantly decreased in CRC tissues compared with normal tissue, and its expression was negatively associated with expression, expression, and expression, and high expression was significantly associated with microsatellite instability (MSI). SNPs were also associated with the clinicopathological characteristics of CRC; for example, the rs2228479 locus genotype was correlated with status, and the rs885479 locus genotype was correlated with age and T stage. In conclusion, plays a crucial role in the progression of CRC and may be a marker of poor prognosis in CRC.