{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T08:32:15Z","timestamp":1768206735802,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768176000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Colorectal cancer (CRC) development and progression are linked to genetic factors, environmental influences, and dysregulated signaling pathways.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The differentially expressed pan-apoptotic genes (CPAN_DEGs) between CRC and normal colon tissues were screened from bulk RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) datasets. The putative biological functions of these CPAN_DEGs were explored through functional enrichment analysis and the protein-protein interaction (PI) network. Unsupervised clustering was used to stratify patients on the basis of CPAN_DEGs, and a prognostic model was constructed using LASSO dimensionality reduction. Based on the CPAN-index score, the patients were divided into the high-risk and low-risk groups, and the survival rates and immunophenotypes were compared. The predictive performance of the CPAN-index model was confirmed in an external validation set. The expression patterns of PANoptosis genes across different cell types in CRC samples, and the distribution of CPAN-index-positive cells within each subpopulation were analyzed using single cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) datasets. The expression of CDKN2A was confirmed in CRC cell lines, and its functional role was evaluated by gene knockdown.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The expression levels of PANoptosis-related genes showed significant heterogeneity across CRC samples, and the highest percentage (87.4%) was that of apoptosis-related genes. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the CRC and normal tissue samples were significantly enriched in pathways related to metabolism and immune regulation. The CPAN-index constructed using 11 CPAN_DEGs effectively distinguished CRC patients in to the high-risk and low-risk groups, and the high-risk group showed an \u201cinvasion-metabolism-immunosuppressive\u201d phenotype, along with immune tolerance and non-classical immune escape. The CPAN-index gene CDKN2A was upregulated in the CRC cell lines, and knocking down the CDKN2A gene inhibited their proliferation and promoted apoptosis\n                      <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      . ScRNA-Seq data revealed a higher proportion of CPAN-index-positive immune cells, and a lower proportion of tumor cells positive for CPAN-index, thus underscoring its critical role in the tumor immune microenvironment.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>CDKN2A-mediated PANoptosis signaling network drives CRC progression by reshaping the immune microenvironment and metabolic reprogramming. The CPAN-index provides a new tool for accurate risk stratification of CRC patients, and suggests potential therapeutic strategies targeting the immunometabolism-death interaction network.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2025.1615022","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T05:39:38Z","timestamp":1768196378000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Unveiling the immunometabolic landscape of colorectal cancer through PANoptosis-related gene 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