Comprehensive Analysis of a ceRNA Network Identifies lncR-C3orf35 Associated with Poor Prognosis in Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is a highly malignant bone cancer which primarily occurs in children and young adults. Increasing evidence indicates that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) that sponge microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs), play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis and progression of cancers. The regulatory mechanisms of lncRNA-mediated ceRNAs in osteosarcoma have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we identified differentially expressed lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs in osteosarcoma based on RNA microarray profiles in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. A ceRNA network was constructed utilizing bioinformatic tools. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that lncR-C3orf35 and HMGB1 were associated with poor prognosis of osteosarcoma patients. Furthermore, results of Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) suggested that lncR-C3orf35 may be involved in cellular invasion, the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and immune cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. Further analysis showed that patients with osteosarcoma metastasis expressed higher levels of lncR-C3orf35 and HMGB1 compared to metastasis-free patients. Moreover, the metastasis-free survival rate of the high lncR-C3orf35/HMGB1 expression group was significantly lower than that of the low expression group. The ESTIMATE algorithm was used to calculate the immune score and stromal scores for each sample. High lncR-C3orf35 and HMGB1 levels were correlated with low immune scores. ImmuCellAI analysis revealed that a low proportion of macrophage infiltration was associated with high lncR-C3orf35 and HMGB1 expression. The differential expression of lncR-C3orf35, miR-142-3p, and HMGB1 was further verified by quantitative real-time PCR. This study indicates that lncR-C3orf35 could be considered as a novel potential biomarker and therapeutic target of osteosarcoma, which may contribute to a better understanding of ceRNA regulatory mechanisms.

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High Level of METTL7B Indicates Poor Prognosis of Patients and Is Related to Immunity in Glioma

Frontiers in Oncology ◽

10.3389/fonc.2021.650534 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Yujia Xiong ◽

Mingxuan Li ◽

Jiwei Bai ◽

Yutao Sheng ◽

Yazhuo Zhang

Keyword(s):

Poor Prognosis ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Characteristic Curve ◽

Glioma Cells ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Immune Checkpoints ◽

Roc Curve Analysis ◽

Cox Analysis ◽

High Level

Glioma is the most common primary intracranial malignant tumor in adults. Although there have been many efforts on potential targeted therapy of glioma, the patient’s prognosis remains dismal. Methyltransferase Like 7B (METTL7B) has been found to affect the development of a variety of tumors. In this study, we collected RNA-seq data of glioma in CGGA and TCGA, analyzed them separately. Then, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, univariate and multivariate Cox analysis, and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) analysis were used to evaluate the effect of METTL7B on prognosis. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) enrichment analyses were used to identify the function or pathway associated with METTL7B. Moreover, the ESTIMATE algorithm, Cibersort algorithm, Spearman correlation analysis, and TIMER database were used to explore the relationship between METTL7B and immunity. Finally, the role of METTL7B was explored in glioma cells. We found that METTL7B is highly expressed in glioma, and high expression of METTL7B in glioma is associated with poor prognosis. In addition, there were significant differences in immune scores and immune cell infiltration between the two groups with different expression levels of METTL7B. Moreover, METTL7B was also correlated with immune checkpoints. Knockdown of METTL7B revealed that METTL7B promoted the progression of glioma cells. The above results indicate that METTL7B affects the prognosis of patients and is related to tumor immunity, speculating that METTL7B may be a new immune-related target for the treatment of glioma.

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Increased IGFBP7 Expression Correlates with Poor Prognosis and Immune Infiltration in Gastric Cancer: An Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis

10.21203/rs.3.rs-33369/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Qiaoyun Zhao ◽

Rulin Zhao ◽

Conghua Song ◽

Huan Wang ◽

Jianfang Rong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Gastric Cancer ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Bioinformatics Analysis ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Biological Processes ◽

Coexpressed Genes

Abstract Background Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-7 (IGFBP7) contributes to multiple biological processes in various tumors. However, the role of IGFBP7 in gastric cancer (GC) is still undetermined. The study aims to explore the role of IGFBP7 in GC via an integrated bioinformatics analysis.Methods IGFBP7 expression levels in GC and its normal gastric tissues were analyzed using multiple databases, including the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER), Oncomine, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. The methylation analysis was conducted with MEXPRESS, UALCAN and Xena online tools. The survival analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier Plotter and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases. Coexpressed genes of IGFBP7 were selected with the cBioPortal tool and enrichment analysis was conducted with the clusterProfiler package in R software. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to explore the IGFBP7-related biological processes involved in GC. Correlations between IGFBP7 and immune cell infiltrates were analyzed using the TIMER database.Results IGFBP7 expression was significantly upregulated in GC and correlated with stage, grade, tumor status and Helicobacter pylori infection. High IGFBP7 expression and low IGFBP7 methylation levels were significantly associated with short survival of patients with GC. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that IGFBP7 was an independent risk factor for GC. The coexpressed genes LHFPL6, SEPTIN4, HSPB2, LAYN and GGT5 predicted unfavorable outcomes of GC. Enrichment analysis showed that the coexpressed genes were involved in extracellular matrix (ECM)-related processes. GSEA indicated that IGFBP7 was positively related to ECM and inflammation-related pathways. TIMER analysis indicated that the IGFBP7 expression level was strongly correlated with genes related to various infiltrating immune cells in GC, especially with gene markers of tumor associated macrophages (TAMs).Conclusions We demonstrate that increased IGFBP7 expression correlates with poor prognosis and immune cell infiltration in GC. IGFBP7 might be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and targeted therapy for GC.

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Comprehensive analysis of ceRNA networks reveals prognostic lncRNAs related to immune infiltration in colorectal cancer

BMC Cancer ◽

10.1186/s12885-021-07995-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jingyi Chen ◽

Yuxuan Song ◽

Mei Li ◽

Yu Zhang ◽

Tingru Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Target Genes ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Cell Types ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Cerna Network

Abstract Background Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) represents a class of RNAs (e.g., long noncoding RNAs [lncRNAs]) with microRNA (miRNA) binding sites, which can competitively bind miRNA and inhibit its regulation of target genes. Increasing evidence has underscored the involvement of dysregulated ceRNA networks in the occurrence and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). The purpose of this study was to construct a ceRNA network related to the prognosis of CRC and further explore the potential mechanisms that affect this prognosis. Methods RNA-Seq and miRNA-Seq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used to identify differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs), microRNAs (DEmiRNAs), and mRNAs (DEmRNAs), and a prognosis-related ceRNA network was constructed based on DElncRNA survival analysis. Subsequently, pathway enrichment, Pearson correlation, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were performed to determine the function of the genes in the ceRNA network. Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were also used to validate differential gene expression. Finally, the correlation between lncRNA and immune cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment was evaluated based on the CIBERSORT algorithm. Results A prognostic ceRNA network was constructed with eleven key survival-related DElncRNAs (MIR4435-2HG, NKILA, AFAP1-AS1, ELFN1-AS1, AC005520.2, AC245884.8, AL354836.1, AL355987.4, AL591845.1, LINC02038, and AC104823.1), 54 DEmiRNAs, and 308 DEmRNAs. The MIR4435-2HG- and ELFN1-AS1-associated ceRNA subnetworks affected and regulated the expression of the COL5A2, LOX, OSBPL3, PLAU, VCAN, SRM, and E2F1 target genes and were found to be related to prognosis and tumor-infiltrating immune cell types. Conclusions MIR4435-2HG and ELFN1-AS1 are associated with prognosis and tumor-infiltrating immune cell types and could represent potential prognostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets in colorectal carcinoma.

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Cancer Stemness Associated With Prognosis and the Efficacy of Immunotherapy in Adrenocortical Carcinoma

Frontiers in Oncology ◽

10.3389/fonc.2021.651622 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Xiaoxi Shi ◽

Yuanlin Liu ◽

Shuai Cheng ◽

Haidi Hu ◽

Jian Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Adrenocortical Carcinoma ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Cell Infiltration ◽

Immune Cell Infiltration ◽

Potential Biomarker ◽

Lower Expression

BackgroundCancer stem cells (CSCs) have been proven to influence drug resistance, recurrence, and metastasis in tumors. Our study aimed to identify stemness-related prognostic biomarkers for new therapeutic strategies in adrenocortical carcinoma.MethodsRNA-seq data and clinical characteristics were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The stemness indexes, mDNAsi and mRNAsi, were calculated to classify all samples into low-score and high-score groups. Two algorithms, based on the R language, ESTIMATE and single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) were used to assess the immune cell infiltration states of adrenocortical carcinoma patients. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) was used to find genes that were related to the stemness of cancer. By bioinformatics methods, the correlations between biomarkers capable of predicting immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) responses and stemness of cancer were explored.ResultsHigh-mRNAsi predicted shorter overall survival (OS) and a higher metastatic trend in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) patients. Compared with the low-mRNAsi group, the high-mRNAsi group had a lower ImmuneScore and StromalScroe. Twenty-two stemness-related prognostic genes were obtained by WGCNA, which focused on the function of the cell cycle and cell mitosis. Immune cell infiltration, especially CD8+T cell, increased in the low-mRNAsi group compared with the high-mRNAsi group. Lower expression of PD-L1, CTLA-4, and TIGHT was evaluated in the high-mRNAsi group.ConclusionsACC patients with high-mRNAsi have poor prognosis and less immune cell infiltration. Combined with the finding of lower expression of CTLA-4, TIGHT, and PD-L1 in the high-mRNAsi group, we came to the conclusion that stemness index is a potential biomarker to predict the effectiveness of ICIs.

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A hypoxia-related signature for clinically predicting diagnosis, prognosis and immune microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-17783/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Baohui Zhang ◽

Bufu Tang ◽

Jianyao Gao ◽

Jiatong Li ◽

Lingming Kong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

High Risk Group ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Diagnostic Model ◽

Potential Biomarker

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.

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LncRNA FOXP4-AS1 Promotes Progression of Ewing Sarcoma and Is Associated With Immune Infiltrates

Frontiers in Oncology ◽

10.3389/fonc.2021.718876 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Jiachao Xiong ◽

Liang Wu ◽

Lu Huang ◽

Chunyang Wu ◽

Zhiming Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ewing Sarcoma ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Es Cells ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Extracellular Vesicle ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Immune Microenvironment ◽

Primary Bone Tumor ◽

Cerna Network ◽

Tumor Immune Microenvironment

Ewing sarcoma (ES) is a highly malignant primary bone tumor with poor prognosis. Studies have shown that abnormal expression of lncRNA influences the prognosis of tumor patients. Herein, we established that FOXP4-AS1 was up-regulated in ES and this correlated with poor prognosis. Further analysis illustrated that FOXP4-AS1 down-regulation repression growth, migration, along with invasion of ES. On the contrary, up-regulation of FOXP4-AS1 promoted the growth, migration, as well as invasion of ES. To explore the mechanism of FOXP4-AS1, Spearman correlation analysis was carried out to determine genes that were remarkably linked to FOXP4-AS1 expression. The potential functions and pathways involving FOXP4-AS1 were identified by GO analysis, Hallmark gene set enrichment analysis, GSEA, and GSVA. The subcellular fractionation results illustrated that FOXP4-AS1 was primarily located in the cytoplasm of ES cells. Then a ceRNA network of FOXP4-AS1 was constructed. Analysis of the ceRNA network and GSEA yielded two candidate mRNAs for FOXP4-AS1. Results of the combined survival analysis led us to speculate that FOXP4-AS1 may affect the expression of TMPO by sponging miR-298, thereby regulating the malignant phenotype of ES. Finally, we found that FOXP4-AS1 may modulates the tumor immune microenvironment in an extracellular vesicle-mediated manner. In summary, FOXP4-AS1 correlates with poor prognosis of ES. It promotes the growth, migration, as well as invasion of ES cells and may modulate the tumor immune microenvironment.

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High Expression Levels of KIF18A is an Independent Predictor of Poor Survival in Glioma: A Study Using Multi Public Data

10.21203/rs.3.rs-64417/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Haigang Chang ◽

Yaxiao Wang ◽

Yan Li ◽

Weilong Yang ◽

Lei Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Poor Prognosis ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

High Expression ◽

Who Grade ◽

Normal Tissues ◽

Potential Biomarker ◽

Public Data ◽

Public Datasets ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Background: Kinesin family member 18A (KIF18A) belongs to a member of the kinesin superfamily and is significantly overexpressed and abnormally functions in a variety of cancers. However, the expression profiling and the role of KIF18A has so far remained unclear in glioma. To investigate the relationship of KIF18A with clinical practice and its role in gliomas, the data from multi public datasets were used and analyzed in present study.Methods: Patients with gliomas were enrolled from CGGA RNA-seq, TCGA-seq, CGGA-microarray, GSE4290 and GSE50161 databases. The expression of KIF18A in glioma and normal tissues was analyzed through Wilcoxon rank sum test, and the relationship between KIF18A and clinicopathological features was evaluated using logistic regression. The effect of KIF18A expression in the survival of glioma patients was explored by Kaplan-Meier and Cox analyses. Gene set enrichment analysis was also conducted to annotate biological function of KIF18A.Results: KIF18A expression was significantly increased in glioma tissues compared with the normal counterparts. High KIF18A expression shortened the overall survival in all grades gliomas and the survival period of patients with WHO grade Ⅲ glioma, but not significantly for grade Ⅱ and grade Ⅳ glioma. Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that evaluated KIF18A expression is closely related to poor prognosis. Increased KIF18A expression was significantly correlated grades, age, IDH wide type and may serve as a biomarker of poor prognosis in gliomas. GSEA showed that the KEGG_DNA_REPLICATION, the KEGG_CELL_CYCLE, the KEGG_MISMATCH_REPAIR and the KEGG_NUCLEOTIDE_EXCISION_REPAIR were differentially enriched in KIF18A high expression phenotype.Conclusions: High expression KIF18A might be potential biomarker for the diagnosis and an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in glioma.

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High CTHRC1 expression may be closely associated with angiogenesis and indicates poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma patients

Cancer Cell International ◽

10.1186/s12935-019-1041-5 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yangshan Chen ◽

Yu Sun ◽

Yongmei Cui ◽

Yiyan Lei ◽

Neng Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lung Adenocarcinoma ◽

Predictive Model ◽

Tumor Angiogenesis ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

Progression Free Survival ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

Cox Regression Analysis ◽

Potential Biomarker

Abstract Background This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of the potential biomarker collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients. Methods A total of 210 LUAD patients diagnosed between 2003 and 2016 in the Department of Pathology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University were included in this study. The expression of CTHRC1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and microvessel density (MVD, determined by CD34 immunostaining) were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in LUAD tissues. The association between the expression of these proteins and clinicopathological features or clinical outcomes was analyzed. Results Here, we confirmed that CTHRC1 expression was associated with prognosis and can serve as a significant predictor for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in LUAD. Additionally, we observed that CTHRC1 expression was positively associated with tumor angiogenesis markers, such as VEGF expression (P < 0.001) and MVD (P < 0.01). Then, we performed gene set enrichment analysis (GESA) and cell experiments to confirm that enhanced CTHRC1 expression can promote VEGF levels. Based on and cox regression analysis, a predictive model that included CTHRC1, VEGF and MVD was constructed and confirmed as a more accurate independent predictor for OS (P = 0.001) and PFS (P < 0.001) in LUAD than other parameters. Conclusions These results demonstrated that high CTHRC1 expression may be closely related to tumor angiogenesis and poor prognosis in LUAD. The predictive model based on the CTHRC1 level and tumor angiogenesis markers can be used to predict LUAD patient prognosis more accurately.

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A hypoxia-related signature for clinically predicting diagnosis, prognosis and immune microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-17783/v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Baohui Zhang ◽

Bufu Tang ◽

Jianyao Gao ◽

Jiatong Li ◽

Lingming Kong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

High Risk Group ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Diagnostic Model ◽

Potential Biomarker

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.

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A hypoxia-related signature for clinically predicting diagnosis, prognosis and immune microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-17783/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Baohui Zhang ◽

Bufu Tang ◽

Jianyao Gao ◽

Jiatong Li ◽

Lingming Kong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Enrichment Analysis ◽

High Risk Group ◽

Cancer Genome ◽

Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽

The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽

Diagnostic Model ◽

Potential Biomarker

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.

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