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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Oct 15, 2022; 14(10): 1892-1902
Published online Oct 15, 2022. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v14.i10.1892
Go-Ichi-Ni-San 2: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in human cancers
Dan-Dan Shan, Qiu-Xian Zheng, Zhi Chen
Dan-Dan Shan, Qiu-Xian Zheng, Zhi Chen, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Chen Z carried out the concepts and designed the definition of intellectual content; Shan DD carried out the literature search and manuscript editing; Zheng QX performed manuscript review; and all authors have read and approved the content of the manuscript.
Supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project of China, No. 2018ZX10302-206.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zhi Chen, MD, PhD, Professor, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 79 Qingchun Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China. zjuchenzhi@zju.edu.cn
Received: May 19, 2022
Peer-review started: May 19, 2022
First decision: July 13, 2022
Revised: July 15, 2022
Accepted: September 6, 2022
Article in press: September 6, 2022
Published online: October 15, 2022
Processing time: 148 Days and 10.5 Hours
Abstract

Cancer incidence and mortality are increasing globally, leading to its rising status as a leading cause of death. The Go-Ichi-Ni-San (GINS) complex plays a crucial role in DNA replication and the cell cycle. The GINS complex consists of four subunits encoded by the GINS1, GINS2, GINS3, and GINS4 genes. Recent findings have shown that GINS2 expression is upregulated in many diseases, particularly tumors. For example, increased GINS2 expression has been found in cervical cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, glioma, non-small cell lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer. It correlates with the clinicopathological characteristics of the tumors. In addition, high GINS2 expression plays a pro-carcinogenic role in tumor development by promoting tumor cell proliferation and migration, inhibiting tumor cell apoptosis, and blocking the cell cycle. This review describes the upregulation of GINS2 expression in most human tumors and the pathway of GINS2 in tumor development. GINS2 may serve as a new marker for tumor diagnosis and a new biological target for therapy.

Keywords: Go-Ichi-Ni-San; Go-Ichi-Ni-San 2; Cancer; Biomarker; Clinicopathological characteristics; Molecular mechanism

Core Tip: The Go-Ichi-Ni-San (GINS) complex plays a crucial role in DNA replication and the cell cycle. The GINS complex consists of four subunits encoded by the GINS1, GINS2, GINS3, and GINS4 genes. This review explores the differential expression of GINS2 as a novel target in human cancers. GINS2 is upregulated in most tumors and can influence tumorigenesis and progression through competing endogenous RNA effects and signaling pathways. Therefore, GINS2 may become a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of many cancers.