Department of Urology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200031, China.
Department of Urology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Nov 10;23(22):13873. doi: 10.3390/ijms232213873.
To evaluate the role of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2C (UBE2C) in prostate cancer (PCa) progression and prognosis, the TCGA and our PCa tissue microarray cohort were included in the study. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and non-negative matrix factorization were used to cluster patients and to screen genes that play a vital role in PCa progression (hub gene). Immunohistochemistry staining was used to evaluate the protein level of UBE2C in prostatic tissues. Through WGCNA, we found a gene co-expression module (named the purple module) that is strongly associated with the Gleason score, pathologic T stage, and biochemical recurrent status. Genes in the purple module are enriched in cell cycle and signaling and help us to cluster patients into two groups with distinctive biochemical recurrent survival rates and mutation statuses. Further analysis showed UBE2C served as a hub gene in the purple module. The expression of UBE2C in PCa was significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues and was remarkably associated with pathologic grade, Gleason score, and prognosis in PCa patients. To conclude, UBE2C is a PCa-progress-related gene and a biomarker for PCa patients. Therapy targeting UBE2C may serve as a promising treatment of PCa in the future.
为了评估泛素结合酶 E2C（UBE2C）在前列腺癌（PCa）进展和预后中的作用，本研究纳入了 TCGA 和我们的 PCa 组织微阵列队列。使用加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA）和非负矩阵分解对患者进行聚类，并筛选在 PCa 进展中起关键作用的基因（枢纽基因）。免疫组织化学染色用于评估前列腺组织中 UBE2C 的蛋白水平。通过 WGCNA，我们发现了一个与 Gleason 评分、病理 T 分期和生化复发状态密切相关的基因共表达模块（命名为紫色模块）。紫色模块中的基因富集在细胞周期和信号转导中，有助于我们将患者聚类为两组，两组患者具有不同的生化复发生存率和突变状态。进一步分析表明，UBE2C 是紫色模块中的一个枢纽基因。UBE2C 在 PCa 中的表达明显高于癌旁组织，与 PCa 患者的病理分级、Gleason 评分和预后显著相关。总之，UBE2C 是与 PCa 进展相关的基因，也是 PCa 患者的生物标志物。针对 UBE2C 的治疗可能成为未来治疗 PCa 的一种有前途的方法。
