Research Projects

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent tumor caused by genetic and epigenetic changes in the colon and rectum. In India, it has become the fourth leading cause of adult death in rural areas and the second leading cause in urban areas. The incidence of CRC is increasing, with RSPO2 being the most important secretory regulator of the RSPO family. A preliminary study identified RSPO2 as significantly hypermethylated and downregulated in CRCs. The researchers aim to explore the functional role of RSPO2 mediated regulation of specific signaling pathways exclusive to metastatic CRC (mCRC). They will experimentally validate the biomarker potential of RSPO2 in 70 CRC samples and evaluate its role in regulating metastasis in CRC. They will use demethylating agents to re-express RSPO2 and compare the oncogenic phenotype of both cell lines in treated and untreated conditions. The next step involves overexpressing and depleting RSPO2 in HCT116/HT29 cells and evaluating the oncogenic ability of transfected cells. Bulk RNA-seq analysis will be performed to identify globally activated or downregulated genes and pathways in RSPO2 depleted and overexpressed HCT116/HT29 cells. The results will shed light on the RSPO2 mediated mechanism of CRC metastasis and identify alternate mechanisms by which mCRC etiology is regulated. This would provide an opportunity to explore alternative inhibitors as a therapeutic approach in a subset of CRCs with altered RSPO2 and signaling pathways.