scholarly journals Gene signatures and prognostic values of m1A-related regulatory genes in hepatocellular carcinoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingmiao Shi ◽  
Chen Xue ◽  
Xin Yuan ◽  
Yuting He ◽  
Zujiang Yu

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks fourth in cancer-related mortality worldwide. N1-methyladenosine (m1A), a methylation modification on RNA, is gaining attention for its role across diverse biological processes. However, m1A-related regulatory genes expression, its relationship with clinical prognosis, and its role in HCC remain unclear. In this study, we utilized The Cancer Genome Atlas-Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma (TCGA-LIHC) database to investigate alterations within 10 m1A-related regulatory genes and observed a high mutation frequency (23/363). Cox regression analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator were used to explore the association between m1A-related regulatory genes expression and HCC patient survival and identified four regulators that were remarkably associated with HCC patient prognosis. Additionally, an independent cohort from International Cancer Genome Consortium was studied to validate our discoveries and found to be consistent with those in the TCGA dataset. In terms of mechanism, gene set enrichment analysis linked these four genes with various physiological roles in cell division, the MYC pathway, protein metabolism, and mitosis. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed that PI3K/Akt signaling pathway had potential relevance to m1A-related regulatory genes in HCC. These findings indicate that m1A-related regulatory genes may play crucial roles in regulating HCC progression and be exploited for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Honglan Guo ◽  
Qinqiao Fan

Background. We aimed to investigate the expression of the hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor (HMMR) gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and nonneoplastic tissues and to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of HMMR. Method. With the reuse of the publicly available The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, 374 HCC patients and 50 nonneoplastic tissues were used to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic values of HMMR genes by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and survival analysis. All patients were divided into low- and high-expression groups based on the median value of HMMR expression level. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to identify prognostic factors. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore the potential mechanism of the HMMR genes involved in HCC. The diagnostic and prognostic values were further validated in an external cohort from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). Results. HMMR mRNA expression was significantly elevated in HCC tissues compared with that in normal tissues from both TCGA and the ICGC cohorts (all P values <0.001). Increased HMMR expression was significantly associated with histologic grade, pathological stage, and survival status (all P values <0.05). The area under the ROC curve for HMMR expression in HCC and normal tissues was 0.969 (95% CI: 0.948–0.983) in the TCGA cohort and 0.956 (95% CI: 0.932–0.973) in the ICGC cohort. Patients with high HMMR expression had a poor prognosis than patients with low expression group in both cohorts (all P < 0.001 ). Univariate and multivariate analysis also showed that HMMR is an independent predictor factor associated with overall survival in both cohorts (all P values <0.001). GSEA showed that genes upregulated in the high-HMMR HCC subgroup were mainly significantly enriched in the cell cycle pathway, pathways in cancer, and P53 signaling pathway. Conclusion. HMMR is expressed at high levels in HCC. HMMR overexpression may be an unfavorable prognostic factor for HCC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baohui Zhang ◽  
Bufu Tang ◽  
Jianyao Gao ◽  
Jiatong Li ◽  
Lingming Kong ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Hypoxia plays an indispensable role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there are few studies on the application of hypoxia molecules in the prognosis predicting of HCC. We aimed to identify the hypoxia-related genes in HCC and construct reliable models for diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence of HCC patients as well as exploring the potential mechanism.Methods Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis was performed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and four clusters were determined by a consistent clustering analysis. Three DEGs closely related to overall survival(OS)were identified using Cox regression and LASSO analysis and the hypoxia-related signature was developed and validated in TCGA and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database. Then the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore signaling pathways regulated by the signature and the CIBERSORT was used for estimating the fractions of immune cell types.Results A total of 397 hypoxia-related DEGs were detected and three genes (PDSS1, CDCA8 and SLC7A11) were selected to construct a prognosis, recurrence and diagnosis model. Then patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups. Our hypoxia-related signature was significantly associated with worse prognosis and higher recurrence rate. The diagnostic model also accurately distinguished HCC from normal samples and nodules. Furthermore, the hypoxia-related signature could positively regulate immune response and the high-risk group had higher fractions of macrophages, B memory cells and follicle-helper T cells, and exhibited higher expression of immunocheckpoints such as PD1and PDL1.Conclusions Altogether, our study showed that hypoxia-related signature is a potential biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence of HCC, and it provided an immunological perspective for developing personalized therapies.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ze-bing Song ◽  
Guo-pei Zhang ◽  
shaoqiang li

Abstract Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumor in the world which prognosis is poor. Therefore, a precise biomarker is needed to guide treatment and improve prognosis. More and more studies have shown that lncRNAs and immune response are closely related to the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to establish a prognostic signature based on immune related lncRNAs for HCC.Methods: Univariate cox regression analysis was performed to identify immune related lncRNAs, which had negative correlation with overall survival (OS) of 370 HCC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). A prognostic signature based on OS related lncRNAs was identified by using multivariate cox regression analysis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network were performed to clarify the potential mechanism of lncRNAs included in prognostic signature. Results: A prognostic signature based on OS related lncRNAs (AC145207.5, AL365203.2, AC009779.2, ZFPM2-AS1, PCAT6, LINC00942) showed moderately in prognosis prediction, and related with pathologic stage (Stage I&II VS Stage III&IV), distant metastasis status (M0 VS M1) and tumor stage (T1-2 VS T3-4). CeRNA network constructed 15 aixs among differentially expressed immune related genes, lncRNAs included in prognostic signature and differentially expressed miRNA. GSEA indicated that these lncRNAs were involved in cancer-related pathways. Conclusion: We constructed a prognostic signature based on immune related lncRNAs which can predict prognosis and guide therapies for HCC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andi Ma ◽  
Yukai Sun ◽  
Racheal O. Ogbodu ◽  
Ling Xiao ◽  
Haibing Deng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: It is well known that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a vital role in cancer. We aimed to explore the prognostic value of potential immune-related lncRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Validated the established lncRNA signature of 343 patients with HCC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and 81 samples from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Immune-related lncRNAs for HCC prognosis were evaluated using Cox regression and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) analyses. LASSO analysis was performed to calculate a risk score formula to explore the difference in overall survival between high- and low-risk groups in TCGA, which was verified using GEO, Gene Ontology (GO), and pathway-enrichment analysis. These analyses were used to identify the function of screened genes and construct a co-expression network of these genes. Results: Using computational difference algorithms and lasso Cox regression analysis, the differentially expressed and survival-related immune-related genes (IRGs) among patients with HCC were established as five novel immune-related lncRNA signatures (AC099850.3, AL031985.3, PRRT3-AS1, AC023157.3, MSC-AS1). Patients in the low‐risk group showed significantly better survival than patients in the high‐risk group ( P = 3.033e−05). The signature identified can be an effective prognostic factor to predict patient survival. The nomogram showed some clinical net benefits predicted by overall survival. In order to explore its underlying mechanism, several methods of enrichment were elucidated using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. Conclusion: Identifying five immune-related lncRNA signatures has important clinical implications for predicting patient outcome and guiding tailored therapy for patients with HCC with further prospective validation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Li ◽  
Rongrong Xie ◽  
Qichun Wei

Abstract Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methyltransferase, has been proved to act as an oncogene in several human cancers. However, little is known about its relationship with the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that remains elusive in HCC.Methods: We comprehensively integrated gene expression data acquired from 371 HCC and 50 normal tissues in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Differentially expressed protein-coding genes (DE-PCGs)/lncRNAs (DE-lncRs) analysis and univariate regression & Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis was performed to identify m6A methyltransferase‑related lncRNAs that were related to overall survival (OS). m6A methyltransferase‑related lncRNA signature was constructed using the Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analyses. Furthermore, Cox regression analysis was applied to identify independent prognostic factors in HCC. The signature was validated in an internal validation set. Finally, the correlation analysis between gene signature and immune cells infiltration was also investigated via single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) and immunotherapy response was calculated through Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm.Results: A total of 21 m6A methyltransferase-related lncRNAs were screened out according to Spearman correlation analysis with the immune score (|R| > 0.3, P < 0.05). We selected 3 prognostic lncRNAs to construct m6A methyltransferase-related lncRNA signature through univariate and LASSO Cox regression analyses. The univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses demonstrated that the lncRNAs signature was a robust independent prognostic factor in OS prediction with high accuracy. The GSEA also suggested that the m6A methyltransferase-related lncRNAs were involved in the immune-related biological processes and pathways which were very well-known in the context of HCC tumorigenesis. Besides, we found that the lncRNAs signature was strikingly correlated with the tumor microenvironment (TME) immune cells infiltration and expression of critical immune checkpoints. Finally, results from the TIDE analysis revealed that the m6A methyltransferase-related lncRNAs could efficiently predict the clinical response of immunotherapy in HCC.Conclusion: Together, our study screened potential prognostic m6A methyltransferase related lncRNAs and established a novel m6A methyltransferase-based prognostic model of HCC, which not only provides new potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets but also deepens our understanding of tumor immune microenvironment status and lays a theoretical foundation for immunotherapy.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9201
Author(s):  
Zhipeng Zhu ◽  
Lulu Li ◽  
Jiuhua Xu ◽  
Weipeng Ye ◽  
Borong Chen ◽  
...  

Background Due to the complicated molecular and cellular heterogeneity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the morbidity and mortality still remains high level in the world. However, the number of novel metabolic biomarkers and prognostic models could be applied to predict the survival of HCC patients is still small. In this study, we constructed a metabolic gene signature by systematically analyzing the data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). Methods Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between tumors and paired non-tumor samples of 50 patients from TCGA dataset were calculated for subsequent analysis. Univariate cox proportional hazard regression and LASSO analysis were performed to construct a gene signature. The Kaplan–Meier analysis, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC), Univariate and Multivariate Cox regression analysis, stratification analysis were used to assess the prognostic value of the gene signature. Furthermore, the reliability and validity were validated in four types of testing cohorts. Moreover, the diagnostic capability of the gene signature was investigated to further explore the clinical significance. Finally, Go enrichment analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) have been performed to reveal the different biological processes and signaling pathways which were active in high risk or low risk group. Results Ten prognostic genes were identified and a gene signature were constructed to predict overall survival (OS). The gene signature has demonstrated an excellent ability for predicting survival prognosis. Univariate and Multivariate analysis revealed the gene signature was an independent prognostic factor. Furthermore, stratification analysis indicated the model was a clinically and statistically significant for all subgroups. Moreover, the gene signature demonstrated a high diagnostic capability in differentiating normal tissue and HCC. Finally, several significant biological processes and pathways have been identified to provide new insights into the development of HCC. Conclusion The study have identified ten metabolic prognostic genes and developed a prognostic gene signature to provide more powerful prognostic information and improve the survival prediction for HCC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baohui Zhang ◽  
Bufu Tang ◽  
Jianyao Gao ◽  
Jiatong Li ◽  
Lingming Kong ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundHypoxia plays an indispensable role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there are few studies on the application of hypoxia molecules in the prognosis predicting of HCC. We aim to identify the hypoxia-related genes in HCC and construct reliable models for diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence of HCC patients as well as exploring the potential mechanism.MethodsDifferentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis was performed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and four clusters were determined by a consistent clustering analysis. Three DEGs closely related to overall survival(OS)were identified using Cox regression and LASSO analysis. Then the hypoxia-related signature was developed and validated in TCGA and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database. The Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore signaling pathways regulated by the signature. CIBERSORT was used for estimating the fractions of immune cell types.ResultsA total of 397 hypoxia-related DEGs in HCC were detected and three genes (PDSS1, CDCA8 and SLC7A11) among them were selected to construct a prognosis, recurrence and diagnosis model. Then patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups. Our hypoxia-related signature was significantly associated with worse prognosis and higher recurrence rate. The diagnostic model also accurately distinguished HCC from normal samples and nodules. Furthermore, the hypoxia-related signature could positively regulate immune response. Meanwhile, the high-risk group had higher fractions of macrophages, B memory cells and follicle-helper T cells, and exhibited higher expression of immunocheckpoints such as PD1and PDL1.ConclusionsAltogether, our study showed that hypoxia-related signature is a potential biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence of HCC, and it provided an immunological perspective for developing personalized therapies.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baohui Zhang ◽  
Bufu Tang ◽  
Jianyao Gao ◽  
Jiatong Li ◽  
Lingming Kong ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Hypoxia plays an indispensable role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there are few studies on the application of hypoxia molecules in the prognosis predicting of HCC. We aimed to identify the hypoxia-related genes in HCC and construct reliable models for diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence of HCC patients as well as exploring the potential mechanism. Methods Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis was performed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and four clusters were determined by a consistent clustering analysis. Three DEGs closely related to overall survival(OS)were identified using Cox regression and LASSO analysis and the hypoxia-related signature was developed and validated in TCGA and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database. Then the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore signaling pathways regulated by the signature and the CIBERSORT was used for estimating the fractions of immune cell types. Results A total of 397 hypoxia-related DEGs were detected and three genes (PDSS1, CDCA8 and SLC7A11) were selected to construct a prognosis, recurrence and diagnosis model. Then patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups. Our hypoxia-related signature was significantly associated with worse prognosis and higher recurrence rate. The diagnostic model also accurately distinguished HCC from normal samples and nodules. Furthermore, the hypoxia-related signature could positively regulate immune response and the high-risk group had higher fractions of macrophages, B memory cells and follicle-helper T cells, and exhibited higher expression of immunocheckpoints such as PD1and PDL1. Conclusions Altogether, our study showed that hypoxia-related signature is a potential biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence of HCC, and it provided an immunological perspective for developing personalized therapies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sihan Chen ◽  
Guodong Cao ◽  
Wei Wu ◽  
Yida Lu ◽  
Xiaobo He ◽  
...  

Abstract Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is a malignant gastrointestinal tumor, often occurring in the left colon, which is regulated by glycolysis-related processes. In past studies, multiple genes that influence the prognosis for survival have been discovered through bioinformatics analysis. However, the prediction of disease prognosis using a single gene is not an accurate method. In the present study, a mechanistic model was established to achieve better prediction for the prognosis of COAD. COAD-related data downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were correlated with the glycolysis process using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to determine the glycolysis-related genes that regulate COAD. Using COX regression analysis, glycolysis-related genes associated with the prognosis of COAD were identified, and the genes screened to establish a predictive model. The risk scores of this model were correlated with relevant clinical data to obtain a connection diagram between the model and survival rate, tumor characteristic data, etc. Finally, genes in the model were correlated with cells in the tumor microenvironment, finding that they affected specific immune cells in the model. Seven genes related to glycolysis were identified (PPARGC1A, DLAT, 6PC2, P4HA1, STC2, ANKZF1, and GPC1), which affect the prognosis of patients with COAD and constitute the model for prediction of survival of COAD patients.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11273
Author(s):  
Lei Yang ◽  
Weilong Yin ◽  
Xuechen Liu ◽  
Fangcun Li ◽  
Li Ma ◽  
...  

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered to be a malignant tumor with a high incidence and a high mortality. Accurate prognostic models are urgently needed. The present study was aimed at screening the critical genes for prognosis of HCC. Methods The GSE25097, GSE14520, GSE36376 and GSE76427 datasets were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We used GEO2R to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A protein-protein interaction network of the DEGs was constructed by Cytoscape in order to find hub genes by module analysis. The Metascape was performed to discover biological functions and pathway enrichment of DEGs. MCODE components were calculated to construct a module complex of DEGs. Then, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used for gene enrichment analysis. ONCOMINE was employed to assess the mRNA expression levels of key genes in HCC, and the survival analysis was conducted using the array from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) of HCC. Then, the LASSO Cox regression model was performed to establish and identify the prognostic gene signature. We validated the prognostic value of the gene signature in the TCGA cohort. Results We screened out 10 hub genes which were all up-regulated in HCC tissue. They mainly enrich in mitotic cell cycle process. The GSEA results showed that these data sets had good enrichment score and significance in the cell cycle pathway. Each candidate gene may be an indicator of prognostic factors in the development of HCC. However, hub genes expression was weekly associated with overall survival in HCC patients. LASSO Cox regression analysis validated a five-gene signature (including CDC20, CCNB2, NCAPG, ASPM and NUSAP1). These results suggest that five-gene signature model may provide clues for clinical prognostic biomarker of HCC.


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