Ethylmalonic Encephalopathy 1 Protein Is Increased in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma.

Background/aim: Ethylmalonic encephalopathy 1 protein (ETHE1) plays an important role in sulfide catabolism and polysulfide formation. As sulfides and polysulfides have recently been identified as playing important roles in cancer, we hypothesized that ETHE1 expression would be increased in colon cancer.

Materials And Methods: We used tissue microarray analysis to compare ETHE1 expression in benign colonic epithelium compared to colonic adenocarcinoma. In total, 26 benign colonic epithelial samples were compared to 122 cases of colonic adenocarcinomas.

Results: Compared to benign colonic epithelium, ETHE1 expression was significantly increased (~two-fold) in colonic adenocarcinoma. Additionally, this expression increased with increasing colon cancer tumor grades.

Conclusion: ETHE1 expression is increased in colon cancer compared to benign colonic epithelium. These data, combined with previous studies, suggest that ETHE1 may contribute to colon carcinogenesis by promoting tumor cell bioenergetics and polysulfide formation.