Zhang Xianyi, Xu Runtao, Feng Wenjing, Xu Jiapeng, Liang Yulong, Mu Jinghui
Department of General Surgery, The Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050051, P.R. China.
Exp Ther Med. 2021 Sep;22(3):932. doi: 10.3892/etm.2021.10364. Epub 2021 Jul 1.
Autophagy has an important role in regulating tumor cell survival. However, the roles of autophagy-related genes (ARGs) during colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) progression and their prognostic value have remained elusive. The present study aimed to identify the correlation between ARGs and the progression of COAD, as well as the prognostic significance of ARGs. The transcriptome profiles and the corresponding clinicopathological information of patients with COAD were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Genotype-Tissue Expression databases. A list of ARGs was obtained from the Human Autophagy Database and bioinformatics analysis was performed to investigate the functions of these ARGs. Statistical analyses of these genes were performed to identify independent prognostic markers. The selected prognostic markers were then validated in 15 patients with COAD via immunohistochemistry. Differentially expressed ARGs between normal and tumor tissues were identified. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses revealed that the differentially expressed ARGs were mainly enriched in toxoplasmosis and pathways in cancer. The ATG4B, DAPK1 and SERPINA1 genes were determined to be associated with COAD progression. In addition, a risk signature was proposed that may serve as an independent prognostic marker. In conclusion, ATG4B, DAPK1 and SERPINA1 are crucial participants in tumorigenesis of COAD. The present study may promote the development of novel treatment strategies for COAD.
自噬在调节肿瘤细胞存活中发挥着重要作用。然而，自噬相关基因（ARGs）在结肠腺癌（COAD）进展过程中的作用及其预后价值仍不明确。本研究旨在确定ARGs与COAD进展之间的相关性以及ARGs的预后意义。从癌症基因组图谱和基因型-组织表达数据库下载了COAD患者的转录组谱和相应的临床病理信息。从人类自噬数据库中获取ARGs列表，并进行生物信息学分析以研究这些ARGs的功能。对这些基因进行统计分析以确定独立的预后标志物。然后通过免疫组织化学在15例COAD患者中验证所选的预后标志物。确定了正常组织和肿瘤组织之间差异表达的ARGs。基因本体论和京都基因与基因组百科全书分析表明，差异表达的ARGs主要富集在弓形虫病和癌症相关通路中。确定ATG4B、DAPK1和SERPINA1基因与COAD进展相关。此外，提出了一种风险特征，其可能作为独立的预后标志物。总之，ATG4B、DAPK1和SERPINA1是COAD肿瘤发生的关键参与者。本研究可能会促进COAD新治疗策略的发展。
