The application discloses application of MC1R, in particular, application of an agent for inhibiting MC1R in preparation of a
drug for treating
colorectal cancer, and belongs to the field of biological medicines.
In vitro experiments show that overexpression of MC1R in a
colorectal cancer cell line promotes
cell proliferation and migration, and inhibits
ferroptosis by down-regulating ACSL4 expression, while knockdown of MC1R has an opposite effect.
In vivo experiments also find that xenograft tumor volume and weight formed by
colorectal cancer cells with knockdown of MC1R are reduced, it is found that MC1R activates a Notch
signal pathway, causes ACSL4 expression to be inhibited, thereby inhibiting
ferroptosis and further blocking
cell growth and migration; high expression of MC1R in colorectal
cancer is related to
poor prognosis, and is negatively correlated with the
ferroptosis level. Targeting MC1R can provide a new strategy for enhancing ferroptosis of colorectal
cancer, and provides an important clue for development of
targeted therapy for colorectal
cancer.