CENPA is one of the potential key genes associated with the proliferation and prognosis of ovarian cancer based on integrated bioinformatics analysis and regulated by MYBL2.

BACKGROUND

Ovarian cancer (OV) is a highly lethal disease, and the fifth leading cause of all cancer-related deaths in women. The study aimed to identify potential key genes associated with the proliferation and prognosis of OV.

METHODS

Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ovarian cancer and normal tissues were screened by the robust rank aggregation (RRA) method. The expression of CENPA and MYBL2 were examined in SKOV3 and A2780 ovarian cancer cell lines and tumor tissues by qRT-PCR and western blot. Small RNA interference assays, plasmid overexpression assays and EdU assays were used to validate the proliferative effect of the MYBL2-CENPA axis in ovarian cancer cell lines. The ChIP assay was used to verify the direct regulation of MYBL2 on CENPA.

RESULTS

133 up-regulated genes and 158 down-regulated genes were identified, and the up-regulated genes mainly enrichment in cell cycle. The three up-regulated gene with DNA separation (CENPA, CENPF and CEP55) might be tightly correlated with proliferation and prognosis of OV. Knockdown CENPA expression inhibited the proliferation of A2780 and SKOV3 cells After the knockout of MYBL2, the expression of CENPA significantly decreased. MYBL2 directly binds to the promoter region of CENPA.

CONCLUSIONS

The MYBL2-CENPA pathway plays an important role in the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells, suggesting that this pathway may be a potential target for the treatment of ovarian cancer.