Cancer inhibitory or procarcinogenic pathways also regulate CRC occurrence by influencing the intestinal barrier.37,38 For example, N-myc proto-oncogene protein (N-myc) downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) was found to regulate the structure of AJs.27 Furthermore, the loss of NDRG2 downregulated the expression of E-cadherin in mouse models. The gene discussed is NDRG2; the disease is cancer.