scholarly journals Downregulated ZC3H13 by miR-362-3p/miR-425-5p is Associated with Poor Prognosis and Adverse Outcomes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Author(s):  
shuang wu ◽  
Shihai Liu ◽  
Yongxian Cao ◽  
Chao Geng ◽  
Peng Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is notorious for its poor prognosis. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) related genes plays key roles in initiation and progression of several types of human cancer. However, the specific role and mechanism of m6A RNA modification in HCC remains not fully determined. Previous studies identified that several m6A-related genes, especially ZC3H13, could be a high candidate as a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma. In liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), the low expression of ZC3H13 was reported but the molecular reason is unclear.Methods: Oncomine and GEPIA databases were used to explore the differential expression of ZC3H13 in multiple cancers. Kaplan–Meier plotter was selected to explore the prognostic value of ZC3H13. The GSCALite database was used to analyze the genetic variation of the m6A-related genes. StarBase was selected to predict and analysis of upstream miRNAs of ZC3H13. MiR-362-3p/miR-425-5p mimics and inhibitors results detected by Quantitative Real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis and western blotting. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) identified the potential regulatory mechanism of ZC3H13. In addition, we investigated the relationship between ZC3H13 and tumor infiltrating immune cells (TIICs). Finally, we determined the expression correlation of ZC3H13 with biomarkers of immune cells in HCC using GEPIA database.Results: In this study, we found that ZC3H13 expression was significantly correlated with both overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (RFS) in LIHC patients based on a comprehensive analysis of the m6A family. Our experimental results indicate that inhibiting miR-362-3p/miR-425-5p expression in the LIHC cell line significantly restored the expression of ZC3H13, which is consistent with bioinformatic studies. Further, we noticed that there is a possible relationship between ZC3H13 high expression and tumor microenvironment infiltrating immune cells.Conclusions: In conclusion, this study demonstrates that ZC3H13 is a direct target of miR-362-3p/miR-425-5p in LIHC that regulates the immune modulations in the microenvironment of LIHC.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia-yi XIE ◽  
Ming Liu ◽  
Yaxin Luo ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Zhenghong Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract PurposeEsophageal cancer (EC) is the sixth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a predominant subtype of EC. Identifying diagnostic biomarkers for ESCC is necessary for cancer practice. Increasing evidence illustrates that apolipoprotein C-1 (APOC1) participates in the carcinogenesis. However, the biological function of APOC1 in ESCC remains unclear. Patients and methodsWe investigated the expression level of APOC1 using TIMER2.0 and GEO databases, the prognostic value of APOC1 in ESCC using Kaplan-Meier plotter and TCGA databases. We used LinkedOmics to identify co-expressed genes with APOC1 and perform GO and KEGG pathway analysis. The target networks of kinases, miRNAs and transcription factors were predicted by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). The correlations between APOC1 and immune infiltration were calculated using TIMER2.0 and CIBERSORT databases. We further performed the prognostic analysis based on APOC1 expression levels in related immune cells subgroups via Kaplan-Meier plotter database. ResultsAPOC1 was found overexpressed in tumor tissues in multiple ESCC cohorts and high APOC1 expression was related to a dismal prognosis. Multivariate analysis confirmed that APOC1 overexpression was an independent indicator of poor OS. Functional network analysis indicated that APOC1 might regulate the natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity, phagosome, AMPK and hippo signaling through pathways involving some cancer-related kinases, miRNA and transcription factors. Immune infiltration analysis showed that APOC1 was significantly positively correlated with M0 macrophages cells, M1 macrophages cells and activated NK cells, negatively correlated with regulatory T cells, CD8 T cells, neutrophils and monocytes. High APOC1 expression had a poor prognosis in server immune cells subgroups in ESCC, including decreased CD8+ T cells subgroups. ConclusionThese findings suggest that increased expression of APOC1 is related to poor prognosis and immune infiltration in ESCC. APOC1 holds promise for serving as a valuable diagnostic and prognostic marker in ESCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Ren ◽  
Wanjing Li ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
Shuliang Li ◽  
Hao Guo ◽  
...  

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with relatively high malignancy and rapid disease progression. Metabolism-related genes (MRGs) are involved in the pathogenesis of HCC. This study explored potential key MRGs and their effect on T-cell immune function in the tumor immune microenvironment to provide new insight for the treatment of HCC. Of 456 differentially expressed MRGs identified from TCGA database, 21 were screened by MCODE and cytoHubba algorithms. From the key module, GAD1, SPP1, WFS1, GOT2, EHHADH, and APOA1 were selected for validation. The six MRGs were closely correlated with survival outcomes and clinicopathological characteristics in HCC. Receiver operating characteristics analysis and Kaplan-Meier plots showed that these genes had good prognostic value for HCC. Gene set enrichment analysis of the six MRGs indicated that they were associated with HCC development. TIMER and GEPIA databases revealed that WFS1 was significantly positively correlated and EHHADH was negatively correlated with tumor immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint expression. Finally, quantificational real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) confirmed the expression of WFS1 and EHHADH mRNA in our own patients’ cohort samples and four HCC cell lines. Collectively, the present study identified six potential MRG biomarkers associated with the prognosis and tumor immune infiltration of HCC, thus providing new insight into the pathogenesis and treatment of HCC.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
rui kong ◽  
Nan Wang ◽  
Wei Han ◽  
Yuejuan Zheng ◽  
Jie Lu

Abstract Background: In recent years, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as crucial regulators in the immunological process of liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). Increasing studies have found that some lncRNAs could be used as a diagnostic or therapeutic target for clinical management, but little research has investigated the role of immune-related lncRNA in tumor prognosis. In this study, we aimed to develop an immune lncRNA signature for the precise diagnosis and prognosis of liver hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Gene expression profiles of LIHC samples obtained from TCGA were screened for immune-related genes using two reference gene sets. The optimal immune-related lncRNA signature was built via correlational analysis, univariate and multivariate cox analysis. Then the Kaplan-Meier plot, ROC curve, clinical analysis, gene set enrichment analysis, and principal component analysis were carried out to evaluate the capability of immune lncRNA signature as a prognostic indicator. Results: Six long non-coding RNA MSC−AS1, AC009005.1, AL117336.3, AL031985.3, AL365203.2, AC099850.3 were identified via correlation analysis and cox regression analysis considering their interactions with immune genes. Next, tumor samples were separated into two risk groups by the signature with different clinical outcomes. Stratification analysis showed the prognostic ability of this signature acted as an independent factor. The AUC value of ROC curve was 0.779. The Kaplan-Meier method was used in survival analysis and results showed a statistical difference between the two risk groups. The predictive performance of this signature was validated by principal component analysis (PCA). Data from gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) further unveiled several potential biological processes of these biomarkers may involve in. Conclusion: In summary, the study demonstrated the potential role of the six-lncRNA signature served as an independent prognostic factor for LIHC patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (15) ◽  
pp. 1319-1331
Author(s):  
Li Li ◽  
Hui-Jing Situ ◽  
Wen-Cheng Ma ◽  
Xuan Liu ◽  
Lu-Lu Wang

Aim: To investigate the effect of aberrant expression of DHRS1 on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials & methods: Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the correlation between DHRS1 and overall survival. Gene set enrichment analysis was performed to explore the potential function of DHRS1 in HCC. Results: Multiple data analysis revealed that DHRS1 mRNA and protein expression level were remarkably lower in HCC than that in normal tissues. In survival analysis, patients with low DHRS1 expression presented a poorer prognosis, and was an independent risk factor for HCC. Conclusion: Decreased DHRS1 expression may be a potential predictor of poor prognosis in HCC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peipei Gao ◽  
Ting Peng ◽  
Canhui Cao ◽  
Shitong Lin ◽  
Ping Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Claudin family is a group of membrane proteins related to tight junction. There are many studies about them in cancer, but few studies pay attention to the relationship between them and the tumor microenvironment. In our research, we mainly focused on the genes related to the prognosis of ovarian cancer, and explored the relationship between them and the tumor microenvironment of ovarian cancer.Methods: The cBioProtal provided the genetic variation pattern of claudin gene family in ovarian cancer. The ONCOMINE database and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) were used to exploring the mRNA expression of claudins in cancers. The prognostic potential of these genes was examined via Kaplan-Meier plotter. Immunologic signatures were enriched by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). The correlations between claudins and the tumor microenvironment of ovarian cancer were investigated via Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER).Results: In our research, claudin genes were altered in 363 (62%) of queried patients/samples. Abnormal expression levels of claudins were observed in various cancers. Among them, we found that CLDN3, CLDN4, CLDN6, CLDN10, CLDN15 and CLDN16 were significantly correlated with overall survival of patients with ovarian cancer. GSEA revealed that CLDN6 and CLDN10 were significantly enriched in immunologic signatures about B cell, CD4 T cell and CD8 T cell. What makes more sense is that CLDN6 and CLDN10 were found related to the tumor microenvironment. CLDN6 expression was negatively correlated with immune infiltration level in ovarian cancer, and CLDN10 expression was positively correlated with immune infiltration level in ovarian cancer. Further study revealed the CLDN6 expression level was negatively correlated with gene markers of various immune cells in ovarian cancer. And, the expression of CLDN10 was positive correlated with gene markers of immune cells in ovarian cancer.Conclusions: CLDN6 and CLDN10 were prognostic biomarkers, and correlated with immune infiltration in ovarian cancer. Our results revealed new roles for CLDN6 and CLDN10, and they were potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of ovarian cancer.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245908
Author(s):  
Jian Xie ◽  
Yang Peng ◽  
Xiaoyu Chen ◽  
Qigang Li ◽  
Bin Jian ◽  
...  

This study aimed to find the prognostic value of Beta-lactamase-like (LACTB) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) patients. The mRNA expression of LACTB was upregulated in PAAD and was correlated with vital status (P = 0.0199). The immunoreactive scores of LACTB protein in human PAAD tissues were significantly higher than those in adjacent noncancerous pancreatic tissues. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve assessment showed that LACTB mRNA expression has high diagnostic value in PAAD. Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox analyses suggested that patients with high LACTB mRNA expression have a poor prognosis, indicating that LACTB mRNA is an independent prognostic factor for overall survival [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.72, P = 0.015, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.106–2.253] and disease-specific survival (HR = 1.97, P = 0.004, 95% CI = 1.238–3.152) of PAAD patients. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that hallmark_g2m_checkpoint, hallmark_myc_targets_v1, hallmark_e2f_targets, and kegg_cell_cycle were differentially enriched in phenotypes with high LACTB expression. In addition, CDC20, CDK4, MCM6, MAD2L1, MCM2 and MCM5 were leading genes intersecting in these four pathways, and a positive correlation between mRNA expression and LACTB was observed in most normal and cancer tissues. Finally, elevated LACTB mRNA expression was significantly related to multiple immune marker sets. Our results elucidate that LACTB is involved in the development of cancer, and that high LACTB expression in patients with PAAD can predict a poor prognosis. High LACTB expression was significantly correlated with cell cycle-related genes and multiple immune marker sets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Qiuyue Hu ◽  
Shen Shen ◽  
Jianhao Li ◽  
Liwen Liu ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
...  

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumour associated with a high mortality rate and poor prognosis worldwide. Uridine diphosphate-glucose pyrophosphorylase 2 (UGP2), a key enzyme in glycogen biosynthesis, has been reported to be associated with the occurrence and development of various cancer types. However, its diagnostic value and prognostic value in HCC remain unclear. The present study observed that UGP2 expression was significantly downregulated at both the mRNA and protein levels in HCC tissues. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that UGP2 may be an indicator for the diagnosis of HCC. In addition, Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression multivariate analyses indicated that UGP2 is an independent prognostic factor of overall survival (OS) in patients with HCC. Furthermore, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) suggested that gene sets negatively correlated with the survival of HCC patients were enriched in the group with low UGP2 expression levels. More importantly, a significant correlation was identified between low UGP2 expression and fatty acid metabolism. In summary, the present study demonstrates that UGP2 may contribute to the progression of HCC, indicating a potential therapeutic target for HCC patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yumei Fan ◽  
Jiajie Hou ◽  
Xiaopeng Liu ◽  
Bihui Han ◽  
Yanxiu Meng ◽  
...  

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies and ranks as the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Heat shock factor 2 (HSF2) is a transcription factor that plays a critical role in development, particularly corticogenesis and spermatogenesis. However, studies examining the expression and prognostic value of HSF2 and its association with tumor-infiltrating immune cells in HCC are still rare. In the present study, we found that HSF2 expression was significantly upregulated in HCC tissues compared with normal liver tissues using the TCGA, ICGC, GEO, UALCAN, HCCDB and HPA databases. High HSF2 expression was associated with shorter survival of patients with HCC. Cox regression analyses and nomogram were used to evaluate the association of HSF2 expression with the prognosis of patients with HCC. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that HSF2 was associated with various signaling pathways, including the immune response. Notably, HSF2 expression was significantly correlated with the infiltration levels of different immune cells using the TIMER database and CIBERSORT algorithm. HSF2 expression also displayed a significant correlation with multiple immune marker sets in HCC tissues. Knockdown of HSF2 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion and colony formation ability of HCC cells. In summary, we explored the clinical significance of HSF2 and provided a therapeutic basis for the early diagnosis, prognostic judgment, and immunotherapy of HCC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Hu ◽  
Xiao-Bo Yang ◽  
Xinting Sang

Abstract Background: Abnormal Nei endonuclease VIII-like 3 (NEIL3)expression is associated with carcinogenesis. Methods: We used sequencing data from the Cancer Genome Atlas database, analyzed NEIL3 expression, gene regulation networks and the correlation with immune infiltrates in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Clinicopathologic characteristics associated with overall survival in TCGA patients using Cox regression and the Kaplan-Meier method. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis was performed using TCGA data set. LinkedOmics was used to identify differential gene expression with NEIL3 and to analyze Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. Gene enrichment analysis examined target networks of kinases and transcription factors.Correlations between NEIL3 expression and cancer immune infiltrates and immune gene markers were analyzed by TIMER and GEPIA. Results: We found that overexpressed NEIL3 predicted poor prognosis. Functional network analysis suggested that NEIL3 regulates the DNA replication and cell cycle signaling via pathways involving several cancer-related kinases and E2F Transcription Factor 1.NEIL3 was also found to be associated with the infiltration of several immune cells. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that data mining efficiently reveals information about NEIL3 expression, potential regulatory networks and the relationship with immune infiltration in HCC, laying a foundation for further study of the role of NEIL3 in carcinogenesis.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bihui Han ◽  
Yanxiu Meng ◽  
Yumei Fan ◽  
Bing Liu ◽  
Jiajie Hou ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies and ranks as the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Heat shock factor 2 (HSF2) is a transcription factor that plays a critical role in development, particularly corticogenesis and spermatogenesis. However, studies on the expression and prognostic value of HSF2 and its association with tumor-infiltrating immune cells in HCC are still rare. MethodsThe TCGA, Oncomine, UALCAN, HCCDB and HPA databases were used to investigate HSF2 expression in HCC. Kaplan-Meier plotter, GEPIA and HCCDB databases were used to evaluate the association of HSF2 with the prognosis of HCC patients. Genetic alteration of HSF2 was examined by the cBioPortal database. The mechanism was investigated with Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and gene set enrichment analysis (GESA), and the relationship between HSF2 expression and immune infiltration was explored through the TIMER database and CIBERSORT algorithm.Results In the present study, we found that HSF2 expression was significantly upregulated in HCC compared with normal liver tissues. High HSF2 expression was associated with poor survival in HCC patients. GO, KEGG and GESA analyses demonstrated that HSF2 was associated with various signaling pathways, including the immune response. Notably, HSF2 expression was significantly correlated with the infiltration levels of different immune cells. HSF2 expression also displayed a significant correlation with multiple immune marker sets in HCC. ConclusionsIn summary, we explored the clinical significance of HSF2 and provided a therapeutic basis for the early diagnosis, prognostic judgment, and immunotherapy of HCC.


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