Pan-cancer analysis reveals AOC3 as a potential therapeutic biomarker for colorectal cancer

Amine oxidase copper containing 3 (AOC3) had been reported to play an important regulatory role in the biological functional pathways, immune microenvironment and cellular function. However, the potential function of AOC3 in cancer had not been fully studied. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the potential function of AOC3 in pan-cancer using multiple online databases and analytical methods, including mutations and differential expression analysis, pathway analysis and immune analysis. Then, the function of the AOC3 was assessed in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. Pan-cancer analysis results show that the highest mutation frequency of ACO3 in embryonic tumor patients, in most cancers, the expression of AOC3 is significantly downregulated and the differential expression of AOC3 was mainly concentrated in CRC and female tumors. Enrichment analysis showed that AOC3 was involved in PPAR signaling pathway. In addition, bioinformatic investigation revealed a link between the AOC3 with immune cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. Cell experiments have confirmed that AOC3 can significantly regulate the apoptosis and cycle progression of CRC cells. In summary, our study not only comprehensively analyzed the potential mechanisms of AOC3 in pan-cancer, but also validated the potential regulatory role of AOC3 through CRC cell experiments.