Title: Involvement of unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in CRC progression based on in vitro and in silico studies

Obesity is one of the risk factors concerns of colorectal cancer (CRC), the most common type of gastrointestinal cancer, due to the changing lifestyle and especially diet. There are various molecular pathways associated with obesity and the risk of CRC incidence, such as insulin resistance or elevated plasma free fatty acids, which alter the signaling pathways of intestinal epithelial cells. The aim of this study was to better understand the significance of unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis on pathogenesis of colon cancer in obese. Based on GSE20931 dataset, obese individuals affected by CRC had higher increased gene expression than non-obese individuals. The analysis showed that in obese individuals, the 16 signaling pathway genes were activated and increased (FDR <0.05) significantly. The biosynthetic pathway of unsaturated fatty acids showed a cross-talk with the arachidonic acid metabolism pathway and the PPAR signaling pathway is influenced and regulated via these pathways. The biosynthetic pathway of unsaturated fatty acids consisting of 22 genes, were analyzed using GEO data and revealed that 4 genes (HSD17B12, TECR, FADS2, ELOVL5) from this pathway were significantly increased (FDR <0.05). These data were validated based on TCGA data (Adj.p.value <0.001). The expression level of candidate genes in HT-29 cells decreased significantly (P.value <0.01), and PPARγ expression increased under linoleic acid treatment (200 μM) compared to control cells. Moreover, in presence of linoleic acid treatment, migration, colony formation, and proliferation decreased (P.value <0.01) in presence of treatment. In summary, the Biosynthesis pathway of unsaturated fatty acids is an interesting and critical pathway in CRC.