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World J Gastroenterol. May 7, 2018; 24(17): 1881-1887
Published online May 7, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i17.1881
Olfactomedin-4 in digestive diseases: A mini-review
Xin-Yu Wang, Sheng-Hui Chen, Ya-Nan Zhang, Cheng-Fu Xu
Xin-Yu Wang, Sheng-Hui Chen, Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
Ya-Nan Zhang, Department of Geriatrics, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China
Cheng-Fu Xu, Department of Gastroenterology, Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis and Treatment for Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Tumor of Zhejiang Province, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this paper through the conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting, critical revision and editing, and approval of the final version.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81470838; and the Science Foundation of Health Bureau of Zhejiang Province, No. 2015KYB030.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Cheng-Fu Xu, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, ZheJiang Province, China. xiaofu@zju.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-571-87236863 Fax: +86-571-87236611
Received: March 11, 2018
Peer-review started: March 12, 2018
First decision: March 29, 2018
Revised: April 6, 2018
Accepted: April 9, 2018
Article in press: April 9, 2018
Published online: May 7, 2018
Abstract

Olfactomedin-4 (OLFM4, GW112, hGC-1) is a glycoprotein belonging to the olfactomedin family. The expression of OLFM4 is strong in the small intestine, colon and prostate, and moderate in the stomach and bone marrow. Previous studies have revealed that OLFM4 is closely associated with many digestive diseases. Up-regulation of OLFM4 has been detected in the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)-infected gastric mucosa, inflammatory bowel disease tissue and gastrointestinal malignancies, including gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer and gallbladder cancer. Down-regulation of OLFM4 has also been detected in some cases, such as in poorly differentiated, advanced-stage and metastatic tumors. Studies using OLFM4-deficient mouse models have revealed that OLFM4 acts as a negative regulator of H. pylori-specific immune responses and plays an important role in mucosal defense in inflammatory bowel disease. Patients with OLFM4-positive gastric cancer or colorectal cancer have a better survival rate than OLFM4-negative patients. However, the prognosis is worse in pancreatic cancer patients with high levels of expression of OLFM4. The NF-κB, Notch and Wnt signaling pathways are involved in the regulation of OLFM4 expression in digestive diseases, and its role in pathogenesis is associated with anti-inflammation, apoptosis, cell adhesion and proliferation. OLFM4 may serve as a potential specific diagnostic marker and a therapeutic target in digestive diseases. Further studies are required to explore the clinical value of OLFM4.

Keywords: Olfactomedin-4, Inflammation, Cancer, Helicobacter pylori infection

Core tip: This review is based on the currently available literature about olfactomedin-4 (OLFM4) and is intended to reveal the link between OLFM4 and digestive diseases, including Helicobacter pylori infection, inflammatory bowel disease and gastrointestinal malignancies. The data on the expression, function and regulatory pathways of OLFM4 in digestive diseases are summarized. The potential clinical value of OLFM4 in digestive diseases is also discussed.