Glucose deprivation induces chemoresistance in colorectal cancer cells by increasing ATF4 expression.

Aim: To investigate the role of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) in glucose deprivation (GD) induced colorectal cancer (CRC) drug resistance and the mechanism involved.

Methods: Chemosensitivity and apoptosis were measured under the GD condition. Inhibition of ATF4 using short hairpin RNA in CRC cells under the GD condition and in ATF4-overexpressing CRC cells was performed to identify the role of ATF4 in the GD induced chemoresistance.