Chen, Huey-MiinMacDonald, Justin2022-06-102022-06-102022-05-23Huey-Miin Chen, PhD, Justin A MacDonald, PhD, Molecular Network Analyses Implicate Death-Associated Protein Kinase 3 (DAPK3) as a Key Factor in Colitis-Associated Dysplasia Progression, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 2022;, izac098, https://doi.org/10.1093/ibd/izac098http://hdl.handle.net/1880/11471710.11575/PRISM/43807Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a progressive disorder that elevates the risk of colon cancer development through a colitis-dysplasia-carcinoma sequence. Gene expression profiling of colitis-associated lesions obtained from patients with varied extents of UC can be mined to define molecular panels associated with colon cancer development. Methods: Differential gene expression profiles of 3 UC clinical subtypes and healthy controls were developed for the GSE47908 microarray data set of healthy controls, left-sided colitis, pancolitis, and colitis-associated dysplasia (CAD) using limma R. Results: A gene ontology enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed a shift in the transcriptome landscape as UC progressed from left-sided colitis to pancolitis to CAD, from being immune-centric to being cytoskeleton-dependent. Hippo signaling (via Yes-associated protein [YAP]) and Ephrin receptor signaling were the top canonical pathways progressively altered in concert with the pathogenic progression of UC. A molecular interaction network analysis of DEGs in left-sided colitis, pancolitis, and CAD revealed 1 pairwise line, or edge, that was topologically important to the network structure. This edge was found to be highly enriched in actin-based processes, and death-associated protein kinase 3 (DAPK3) was a critical member and sole protein kinase member of this network. Death-associated protein kinase 3 is a regulator of actin-cytoskeleton reorganization that controls proliferation and apoptosis. Differential correlation analyses revealed a negative correlation for DAPK3-YAP in healthy controls that flipped to positive in left-sided colitis. With UC progression to CAD, the DAPK3-YAP correlation grew progressively more positive. Conclusion: In summary, DAPK3 was identified as a candidate gene involved in UC progression to dysplasia.engcolon cancerdeath-associated protein kinasezipper-interacting protein kinasedifferential-gene expressionulcerative colitisdysplasiajournal articleMOP-97931https://doi.org/10.1093/ibd/izac098