{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T21:39:26Z","timestamp":1788903566962,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,27]],"date-time":"2025-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764201600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Metabolites"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objective: Colon cancer, the third most diagnosed cancer worldwide, is anatomically classified into right- and left-sided colon cancers based on embryonic origin and vascular supply. The aim of this study was to investigate molecular differences between patients with right- and left-sided colon cancer. Methods: In this pilot study, Blood samples from right-sided (n = 6) and left-sided (n = 6) colon cancer patients, as well as healthy controls (n = 6), were analyzed for 92 cancer-related genes via RT-qPCR. KEGG pathway analysis was performed with ShinyGO 0.82, and gene\u2013metabolite interactions were assessed using EnrichR and MetaboAnalyst 6.0. Additionally, patients\u2019 sociodemographic and clinical data were analyzed. Results: KEGG analysis revealed that p53, HIF-1, TNF, PI3K\/Akt, MAPK, and Rap1 signaling pathways were enriched in right-sided colon cancer, whereas VEGF, HIF-1, MAPK, PI3K\/Akt, Rap1, and Ras signaling pathways were implicated in left-sided colon cancer. In the gene\u2013metabolite analysis, key metabolites identified in right-sided colon cancer included palmitic acid, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), glycerol, and adenosine diphosphate (ADP), associated with genes such as ACSL4, TP53, MAPK14, FLT1, AURKA, KDR, ERCC3, and PFKL. For left-sided colon cancer, glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), ATP, ADP, glycerol, and palmitoyl-CoA were key metabolites forming the basis of the gene\u2013metabolite network, along with genes including G6PD, PFKL, MAPK14, FLT1, CDK4, AURKA, MAP2K1, ERCC3, TP53, WEE1, and GPD2. Conclusions: These findings highlight distinct molecular profiles between right- and left-sided colon cancers, particularly in pathways related to angiogenesis, apoptosis, ferroptosis, and fatty acid metabolism, which may inform therapeutic strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/metabo15120768","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,28]],"date-time":"2025-11-28T09:56:02Z","timestamp":1764323762000},"page":"768","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Gene Expression-Based Inference of Metabolic Signatures Reveals Distinct Molecular Profiles in Right- and Left-Sided Colon Cancer"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7699-090X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ismail","family":"Ertu\u011frul","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Kartal Dr. Lutfi K\u0131rdar City Hospital, 34865 Istanbul, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-7771-2414","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ay\u015fe B\u00fc\u015franur","family":"\u00c7elik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Hamidiye Institute of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, 34668 Istanbul, Turkey"},{"name":"Department of Medicinal Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan University, 53020 Rize, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2495-8358","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mervenur","family":"Al","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Medicinal Biochemistry, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Health Sciences, 34668 Istanbul, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0276-0543","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mustafa","family":"Duman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology Surgery, Ko\u015fuyolu High Specialization Education and Research Hospital, 34846 Istanbul, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1908-0085","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yunus Emre","family":"Altunta\u015f","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Kartal Dr. Lutfi K\u0131rdar City Hospital, 34865 Istanbul, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Erdal","family":"Polat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology Surgery, Ko\u015fuyolu High Specialization Education and Research Hospital, 34846 Istanbul, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2112-8833","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yunus Emre","family":"Ertu\u011frul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical School, Maltepe University, 34857 Istanbul, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5725-0903","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hasan Fehmi","family":"K\u00fc\u00e7\u00fck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Kartal Dr. Lutfi K\u0131rdar City Hospital, 34865 Istanbul, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2613-9644","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yusuf","family":"Tutar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Medicinal Biochemistry, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53020 Rize, Turkey"},{"name":"Training and Research Hospital, Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan University, 53020 Rize, Turkey"},{"name":"Medical Oncology Program, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100 Rize, Turkey"},{"name":"Molecular Medicine Program, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100 Rize, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ciepiela, I., Szczepaniak, M., Ciepiela, P., Hi\u0144cza-Nowak, K., Kopczy\u0144ski, J., Macek, P., Kubicka, K., Chrapek, M., Tyka, M., and G\u00f3\u017ad\u017a, S. 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