Objective To investigate the effect of N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) reading protein human antigen R (HuR) on the migration, invasion and glycolysis of colorectal cancer cells and its relationship with 6-phosphofructokinase 1 (PFK1).

Methods The tissue samples of 33 patients who were first diagnosed as colorectal cancer in Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University from April to December 2022 were collected. Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression levels of HuR and PFK1 mRNA in colorectal cancer tissues and adjacent tissues. The expression of HuR mRNA in normal intestinal epithelial cells NCM460 and colorectal cancer cells HCT8, SW480, SW620, HCT116, LoVo, RKO and COLO205 was detected. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to construct a HuR knockdown colorectal cancer cell model. The effects of HuR on the migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells were detected by cell scratch assay and Transwell assay. The expression of PFK1 mRNA and protein was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Glucose intake and pyruvate production were detected by glucose content kit and pyruvate content kit, respectively. The relationship between HuR and PFK1 was analyzed by bioinformatics analysis, and the effect of HuR on the stability of PFK1 mRNA was evaluated by actinomycin D assay.

Results In colorectal cancer tissues, HuR and PFK1 were highly expressed at mRNA level; HuR was highly expressed at mRNA level in colorectal cancer cell lines. Down-regulation of HuR significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells, as well as glucose consumption and pyruvate production. Knockdown of HuR could reduce the stability of PFK1 mRNA and its expression at mRNA and protein levels. There were m⁶A modification sites on PFK1.

Conclusion The m⁶A reading protein HuR may regulate the migration, invasion and glycolysis of colorectal cancer cells by recognizing the m⁶A site on PFK1 and reducing the stability of PFK1 mRNA.