Di-san junyi daxue xuebao (Jun 2019)

Screening and identification of key genes involved in lymphatic metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma

  • CHEN Ying,
  • LUO Li,
  • ZHONG Yajing,
  • ZENG Qin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.16016/j.1000-5404.201901143
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 41, no. 12
pp. 1149 – 1155

Abstract

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Objective To screen the key genes associated with lymphatic metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and analyze their roles and the impact of their mutations on the patients' survival through a bioinformatics approach. Methods The OSCC expression profile chip GSE2280 was downloaded from GEO database, and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened using the online tool GEO2R. Based on DAVID database, GO analysis and KEGG pathway analysis of the DEGs were carried out, and the protein interaction network was constructed using STRING database and Cytoscape software. CytoHubba Plug-in was used to identify the hub genes, and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to analyze the survival outcomes of oral cancer patients with mutations of these hub genes. Results We identified a total of 131 DEGs, including 74 up-regulated and 57 down-regulated genes, between OSCC patients with lymphatic metastasis and those without lymphatic metastasis. The up-regulated genes were enriched in digestion and degradation (GO:0007586), intermediate filament cytoskeleton (GO:0045111), and impaired DNA binding (GO:0003684), and participated mainly in pancreatic secretion (hsa04972) and metabolic pathway (hsa01100). The down-regulated genes were enriched in extracellular matrix composition (GO:0030198), collagen trimer (GO:0005581) and extracellular matrix structural components (GO:0005201), and participated in extracellular matrix receptor interaction (hsa04512) and protein digestion and absorption (hsa04974). The key hub genes involved in lymphatic metastasis of OSCC included DHCR24, ALDH3A1, COL5A1, HSPG2, APOE, TP63 and VCAN. Analysis of the data from TCGA database showed that the survival rate of patients with TP63 mutation was significantly decreased (P=0.717), and the patients with VCAN mutation appeared to have an increased survival rate, but this increase was not statistically significant (P=0.568). Conclusion DHCR24, ALDH3A1, COL5A1, HSPG2, APOE, TP63 and VCAN genes may have potential values in both preclinical and clinical studies of lymphatic metastasis of OSCC.

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