as a potential oncogene and a prognostic biomarker for neuroblastoma.

BACKGROUND

Neuroblastoma is the most common malignant extracranial tumor for children. Molecular mechanisms underpinning the pathogenesis of this disease are yet to be fully clarified. This study aimed to identify a novel oncogene that could be used as a biomarker informing the prognosis of neuroblastoma, and to predict its biological functions, using bioinformatics and molecular biology tools.

METHODS

Three data sets from the TARGET, GSE62564, and GSE85047 databases were used for analysis. Survivals of patients with high or low expression of were compared, using the Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test. Immune infiltration was evaluated using ESTIMATE and MCP-counter algorithms. Synthetic small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were employed to silence expression in neuroblastoma cell lines SH-SY5Y and SK-N-SH, in order to characterize its biological functions. Gene enrichment analyses of were carried out, using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses.

RESULTS

Expression of was found to significantly affect overall survival and event-free survival of patients with neuroblastoma, positively correlate with the expressions of and the gene, and negatively correlate with host immune infiltration. Expression of was elevated in patients with neuroblastoma. Silencing expression using siRNAs in SH-SY5Y and SK-N-SH resulted in decreased cell growth ( < 0.05), reduced migration ( < 0.05), and increased apoptosis ( < 0.05). Function analysis of revealed cancer-promoting effects, probably regulating several important downstream molecules, including that related to the apoptosis process and epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

CONCLUSION

We identified a potential tumor-promoting gene for neuroblastoma that could also serve as a prognostic biomarker.