{
  "abstract": "Increased pyrimidine metabolism is characterized by dysregulation of the rate-limiting enzymes in this pathway, including uridine cytidine kinase 2 (UCK2), deoxythymidylate kinase (DTYMK), and cytidine triphosphate synthetase 1 (CTPS1). Emerging evidence highlighted the critical role of these enzymes in cancer progression. This cross-sectional study was conducted at Golestan University of Medical Sciences (Gorgan, Iran) in 2023. Initially, the Gene Expression database of Normal and Tumor tissue (GENT2) and the OncoDB database were checked to investigate the expression of these genes in esophageal cancer (EC) tissues. Subsequently, 34 pairs of newly diagnosed esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues and matched adjacent healthy tissues were collected. Real-time PCR was performed to measure the expression of these genes in the collected tissues. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 22 and GraphPad Prism version 8. The Mann-Whitney test and the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test were used to compare gene expression. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. The results demonstrated that CTPS1 (1.47 and 0.246-6.964, P=0.035) and DTYMK (1.62 and 0.733-5.278, P=0.009) expression levels in tumor tissue were higher than those in adjacent healthy tissues. The expression level of the UCK2 gene (1.32 and 0.278-3.834, P=0.052) was elevated in tumor tissues compared with surrounding non-tumor tissues. However, this difference was not statistically significant. Furthermore, DTYMK expression was significantly higher in females (3.73 and 1.505-11.313) than in males (0.81 and 0.213-1.624, P=0.007). CTPS1 and DTYMK were overexpressed in ESCC tissues compared with adjacent healthy tissue, which could provide valuable insights for the development of ESCC treatment strategies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Metabolic Disorders Research Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.",
    "Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.",
    "Medical Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Nadia Heydari"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Marie Saghaeian Jazi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jahanbakhsh Asadi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Mehdi Sheikh Arabi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Seyyed Mehdi Jafari"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4bdd3qmpvxy3d.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.30476/ijms.2026.108824.4388",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13743972",
  "id": "4bdd3qmpvxy3d",
  "issns": [
    "0253-0716",
    "1735-3688"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999515",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2746|Esophageal Cancer Research and Treatment"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7225579920",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13743972?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13743972",
  "pmid": "42999515",
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4bdd3qmpvxy3d.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-09T15:20:41Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42999515",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999515"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2746|Esophageal Cancer Research and Treatment",
      "subfield": "surgery"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Overexpression of Cytidine Triphosphate Synthetase 1 (CTPS1) and Deoxythymidylate Kinase (DTYMK) in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.",
  "title_text": "Overexpression of Cytidine Triphosphate Synthetase 1 (CTPS1) and Deoxythymidylate Kinase (DTYMK) in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T15:20:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4bdd3qmpvxy3d",
  "venue": "Iranian journal of medical sciences",
  "versions": []
}