GSE128804
Serine racemase is required for colorectal tumor growth and a potential therapeutic target.
Serine racemase (SRR) is an enzyme that catalyzes two reactions, the racemization and the dehydration of L-Ser and D-Ser and has been studied mainly in the fields of central nervous system. The function of SRR in cancer metabolism has not been elucidated. Here we show that SRR expression is upregulated in colorectal adenoma and adenocarcinoma lesions compared to non-neoplastic mucosa in human colorectal cancer specimens. Further analysis by using CRISPR/CRISPR-associated protein 9 system reveals that SRR enhances colorectal cancer cell proliferation via maintaining intracellular pyruvate and mitochondrial mass resulting in higher basal reactive oxygen species level, and has anti-apoptotic function. Overall design: To investigate the effects of SRR on gene expression, we performed RNA-seq analysis and found 1,571 genes downregulated in SRR-KO DLD-1 cells and 977 genes in SRR-KO HCT116 cells.