Abstract
Background: Increasing evidence has pointed to the involvement of RNA modifications in the pathogenesis of human cancers. However, they are rarely studied in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Method: We summarized multiple types of RNA modification-related genes (RMRGs) from public references, and identified differentially expressed RMRGs (DEGs) between HCC tissues and matched normal samples, where their genetic variation were then investigated. The potential hub genes in the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network constructed by co-expression genes of RMRGs were recognized and verified in METTL3-knockdown HCC cell lines by quantitative PCR assay.Results: Seventy-six RMRGs, including six writers, seven readers, and seven erasers, were collected, of which 34 were identified and validated as DEGs. YTHDC2 exhibited the highest mutation rate, while ADAT2 showed widespread deletions. High correlations were observed between the expressions of 34 RMRGs. The PPI network constructed by 1080 co-expression DEGs related to RNA regulations consisted of 513 nodes and 11557 edges, with RPS27A presented the most directed edges and maximum closeness centrality. Patients with high expression of RPS27A showed worse overall survival (P < 0.01) and disease-free survival (P = 0.019). Moreover, RPS27A was found upregulated on high-risk metastatic and recurrent HCC tissues. Quantitative PCR assay indicated that RPS27A was significantly decreased in cancer cell lines when METTL3 was knocked down. Conclusions: Remarkable differences were observed for RNA modifications between HCC and normal samples, and RPS27A could be a poor prognostic predictor for HCC via interacting with METTL3-mediated RNA modifications.