Multi-dimensional analysis reveals NCKAP5L is a promising biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of human cancers, especially colorectal cancer

The Nck-associated protein 5-like (NCKAP5L) gene, also known as Cep169, is associated with certain cancers. However, the diagnosis and prognosis value of NCKAP5L in several types of human cancer, including colorectal cancer, is not fully understood. In the present study, a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of NCKAP5L was performed using several approaches, including gene expression and alteration, protein phosphorylation, immune infiltration, survival prognosis analyses and gene enrichment using the following: The University of California Santa Cruz Genome Browser Human Dec. 2013 (GRCh38/hg38) Assembly, Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (version 2), Human Protein Atlas, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (version 2), University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer Data Analysis portal, the Kaplan-Meier Plotter, cBioportal, Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins, Jvenn and the Metascape server. The role of NCKAP5L in colorectal cancer was further assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The results demonstrated that NCKAP5L was upregulated in the majority of cancer types, including colorectal cancer. The high expression of NCKAP5L was significantly correlated with patient survival prognosis and immune infiltration of cancer-associated fibroblasts in numerous types of cancer, including colorectal cancer. Furthermore, Gene Ontology analysis identified that NCKAP5L may serve an important role in metabolic and cellular processes in human cancers. In summary, the data from the present study demonstrate that NCKAP5L is a potential tumor biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of human cancers, especially colorectal cancer. Key words: Nck-associated protein 5-like, pan-cancer, colorectal cancer, prognostic biomarker