The oncogenic role of PLAUR in colorectal cancer and its bioinformatics analysis

Cancer is a significant global health challenge, driving an urgent need to uncover novel therapeutic strategies. Current therapeutic approaches for colorectal cancer include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy alone or in combination. However, persistent challenges such as cytotoxicity, drug resistance and adverse effects, disease recurrence remain critical unresolved issues, highlighting the critical need for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Our findings identify PLAUR as a critical molecular driver of cancer progression. Elevated expression of PLAUR across multiple cancer types consistently correlates with poor patient survival. PLAUR knockdown inhibited tumor growth, triggering G1 phase cell cycle arrest and enhancing intrinsic apoptotic potential. Conversely, overexpression of PLAUR facilitated malignant biological characteristics. RNA-seq analysis and following functional experiments with p53-knockout HCT116 cell lines consistently revealed that PLAUR depletion activated the p53 signaling pathway. Therefore, these findings not only enhance our understanding of cancer biology but also identify PLAUR as a promising candidate for clinical development in personalized cancer medicine.