Abstract: Abstract: Objective To screen target genes related to liver metastasis in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods The mRNA and miRNA expression profiles (GSE30687 and GSE44121) were downloaded from the Gene Expressed Omnibus (GEO) database. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified through the limma software package, respectively. The database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) was used to perform Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of DEGs. Targets regulated by DEMs were screened by TargetScan, and the miRNA-mRNA regulated network was constructed. Results Compared with non-metastatic CRC samples, there were 180 mRNAs and 15 miRNAs in DEMs in CRC samples with liver metastasis, respectively. DEGs were enriched in 32 GO terms and 2 KEGG pathways. In 50 miRNA-mRNA pairs involved in the miRNA-mRNA network, there were genes with higher node degrees including FN1 and MEIS1. Conclusion FN1 and MEIS1 genes might be potential biomarkers of CRC with liver metastasis.

Key words: colorectal neoplasms, neoplasm metastasis, carcinoma, hepatocellular, gene chip analysis