A genome-wide association study to identify candidate genes for erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction (ED) can be caused by different diseases and controlled by several genetic networks. In this study, to identify the genes related to ED, the expression profiles of normal and ED samples were investigated by the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Seventeen genes were identified as associated genes with ED. The protein and nucleic acid sequences of selected genes were retrieved from the UCSC database. Selected genes were diverse according to their physicochemical properties and functions. Category function revealed that selected genes are involved in pathways related to humans some diseases. Furthermore, based on protein interactions, genes associated with the insulin pathway had the greatest interaction with the studied genes. To identify the common cis-regulatory elements, the promoter site of the selected genes was retrieved from the UCSC database. The Gapped Local Alignment of Motifs tool was used for finding common conserved motifs into the promoter site of selected genes. Besides, INSR protein as an insulin receptor precursor showed a high potential site for posttranslation modifications, including phosphorylation and N-glycosylation. Also, in this study, two Guanine-Cytosine (GC)-rich regions were identified as conserved motifs in the upstream of studied genes which can be involved in regulating the expression of genes associated with ED. Also, the conserved binding site of miR-29-3p that is involved in various cancers was observed in the 3′ untranslated region of genes associated with ED. Our study introduced new genes associated with ED, which can be good candidates for further analyzing related to human ED.

The Role of CBLL1 in the Prognosis and Immune Infiltration of Pan-Cancer

ObjectiveThis study aims to explore the role of CBLL1 in pan-carcinoma and tumor immune infiltrates. MethodsDownload mRNA expression, mutation and clinical data in UCSC database, to analyze the relationship between CBLL1 expression and clinicopathological vlaue, and immune microenvironment in pan-cancer. CIBERSORT was used to analyze the relationship between CBLL1 expression and the infiltration of pan-carcinoma immune cells. The mRNA expression data of UCSC database were used to analyze the correlation between CBLL1 expression and pan-cancer immunomodulations, checkpoints and receptor molecules. ResultsThe levels of CBLL1 mRNA expression in pan-cancer tissues were abnormal. The level of CBLL1 is related to the age, race, clinical stage and treatment effect of patients with pan-carcinoma and associated with the prognosis of patients with KIRC, LUSC, THCA, THYM, MESO, PRAD, STAD, and UVM. Univariate COX regression analysis showed that expression of CBLL1 was a risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with KICH, KIRC, LAML, THYM, KIRC, PCPG, OV, PRAD, STAD, GBM and UVM. The expression level of CBLL1 was correlated with BLCA, BRCA, COAD, LAML, LGG, LUAD, LUSC, SARC, STAD, THCA, THYM and UVM tumor mutational burden, and with ACC, BRCA, CESC, COAD, DLBC, HNSC, PRAD, READ, SARC, STAD, TGCT, THCA and UCEC microsatellite instability. The expression level of CBLL1 was correlated with cancer stromal cells and immune cells. The expression of CBLL1 is related to pan-cancer immunomodulators, checkpoints and receptor molecules. ConclusionCBLL1 is abnormally expressed in patients with pan-carcinoma, which is expected to be a biomarker for prognosis, mutation and immune infiltration in patients with pan-carcinoma.

LINC01106 drives colorectal cancer growth and stemness through a positive feedback loop to regulate the Gli family factors

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are essential contributors to the progression of various human cancers. Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 1106 is a member of lncRNAs family. Until now, the specific role of LINC01106 in CRC remains undefined. The aim the current study was to unveil the functions of LINC01106 and explore its potential molecular mechanism in CRC. Based on the data of online database GEPIA, we determined that LINC01106 was expressed at a high level in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) tissues compared to normal colon tissues. More importantly, high level of LINC01106 had negative correlation with the overall survival of COAD patients. Additionally, we also determined the low level of LINC01106 in normal colon tissues based on UCSC database. Through qRT-PCR, we identified that LINC01106 was highly expressed in CRC tissues compared to adjacent normal ones. Similarly, we detected the expression of LINC01106 and confirmed that LINC01106 was expressed higher in CRC cells than that in normal cells. Subsequently, LINC01106 was mainly distributed in the cytoplasm. LINC01106 induced the proliferation, migration, and stem-like phenotype of CRC cells. Mechanistically, cytoplasmic LINC01106 positively modulated Gli4 in CRC cells by serving as a miR-449b-5p sponge. Furthermore, nuclear LINC01106 could activate the transcription of Gli1 and Gli2 through recruiting FUS to Gli1 and Gli2 promoters. Mechanism of investigation unveiled that Gli2 was a transcription activator of LINC01106. In conclusion, Gli2-induced upregulation of LINC01106 aggravates CRC progression through upregulating Gli2, Gli2, and Gli4.

The Role of M6A-related CBLL1 in the Prognosis and Immune Infiltration of Pan-cancer

Background The modification of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) plays an important role in physiology and disease progression. The relationship between the role of m6a-related gene CBLL1 in pan-carcinoma and tumor immune infiltrates has remained unknown. Methods To explore the expression level of CBLL1 methylation in pan-cancer in SMART database, and download mRNA expression, mutation and clinical data in UCSC database, to analyze the expression level of CBLL1, and the relationship between CBLL1 expression and clinicopathological features, prognosis, mutation and immune microenvironment in pan-cancer. CIBERSORT was used to analyze the relationship between the expression of CBLL1 and the infiltration of pan-carcinoma immune cells. The mRNA expression data of UCSC database were used to analyze the correlation between CBLL1 expression and pan-cancer immunomodulations, checkpoints and receptor molecules. Gene Set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed the possible mechanism of CBLL1 in the regulation of pan-cancer progression. Results The levels of CBLL1 methylation and mRNA expression in pan-cancer tissues were abnormal. The level of CBLL1 is related to the age, race, clinical stage and treatment effect of patients with pan-carcinoma and associated with the prognosis of patients with KIRC, LUSC, THCA, THYM, MESO, PRAD, STAD, and UVM. Univariate COX regression analysis showed that expression of CBLL1 was a risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with KICH, KIRC, LAML, THYM, KIRC, PCPG, OV, PRAD, STAD, GBM and UVM.The expression level of CBLL1 was correlated with BLCA, BRCA, COAD, LAML, LGG, LUAD, LUSC, SARC, STAD, THCA, THYM and UVM tumor mutational burden (TMB), and with ACC, BRCA, CESC, COAD, DLBC, HNSC, PRAD, READ, SARC, STAD, TGCT, THCA and UCEC microsatellite instability (MSI). The expression level of CBLL1 was correlated with pan-cancer stromal cells and immune cells. The expression of CBLL1 is related to pan-cancer immunomodulators, checkpoints and receptor molecules. GSEA found that CBLL1 may participate in the progression of pan-cancer through B cell receptor singaling pathway, mRNA binding, immunoglobulin receptor binding, Positive Regulation of cell cycle phase transition and other mechanisms. Conclusions CBLL1 is abnormally expressed in patients with pan-carcinoma, which is expected to be a biomarker for prognosis, mutation and immune infiltration in patients with pan-carcinoma.

Rarity of Somatic Mutation and Frequency of Normal Sequence Variation Detected in Sporadic Colon Adenocarcinoma Using High-Throughput cDNA Sequencing

We performed high-throughput cDNA sequencing in colorectal adenocarcinoma and matching normal colorectal epithelium. All six hundred three genes in the UCSC database that were expressed in colon cancers and contained open reading frames of 1000 nucleotides or less were selected for study (total basepairs/bp, 366,686). 304,350 of these 366,686 bp (83.0%) were amplified and sequenced successfully. Seventy-eight sequence variants present in germline (i.e. normal) as well as matching somatic (i.e. tumor) DNA were discovered, yielding a frequency of 1 variant per 3,902 bp. Fifty-one of these sequence variants were homozygous (26 synonymous, 25 non-synonymous), while 27 were heterozygous (11 synonymous, 16 non-synonymous). Cancer tissue contained only one sequence-altered allele of the gene ATP50, which was present heterozygously alongside the wild-type allele in matching normal epithelium. Despite this relatively large number of bp and genes sequenced, no somatic mutations unique to tumor were found. High-throughput cDNA sequencing is a practical approach for detecting novel sequence variations and alterations in human tumors, such as those of the colon.