title: High Ran level is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Ras-like nuclear protein (Ran) is involved in the regulation of nuclear transport, microtubule nucleation and dynamics, and spindle assembly. Its fundamental function is nucleocytoplasmic transport of RNA and proteins. The expression and potential role of Ran in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Ran expression and CRC characteristics. The potential role of Ran as a prognostic indicator was also evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used immunohistochemistry and western blotting to detect Ran expression in 287 CRC tissues. The relationships between Ran expression and clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival rate were statistically analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CRC tissues had significantly higher Ran expression than normal colorectal epithelial cells. Ran was positively correlated with depth of invasion, lymph node metastases, distant metastases, tumor differentiation, and tumor-node-metastasis stage. However, no correlation was found between Ran expression and patient age or sex. The overall survival rate was consistently and significantly lower in patients with Ran-positive tumors than in those with Ran-negative tumors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings emphasize the important role of Ran in differentiation, disease stage, and metastasis in human CRC. Ran may play an important role in the development of CRC and may serve as a novel prognostic indicator of CRC.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, 127 West Changle Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Jinfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Daiming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D020931:ran GTP-Binding Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C120587:RAN protein, human; D020931:ran GTP-Binding Protein