Ma Hai-Yan, Cao Jun-Ming, Zhang Yuan-Yuan, Yang Jin-Shuo, Wang Xin, Yu Yue
The First Department of Breast Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China.
Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University, Ministry of Education, Tianjin 300060, China.
J Cancer. 2025 Jan 1;16(3):784-801. doi: 10.7150/jca.101525. eCollection 2025.
The ubiquitin-proteasome system influences cancer progression through multiple mechanisms. Due to the extensive proteasomal modifications observed in cancer tissues, ubiquitination is closely related to various biological functions with cancer. However, the roles of ubiquitin-related genes (UbRGs) in breast cancer (BC) have not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we retrieved 763 reliable UbRGs and identified a potential prognostic signature for breast cancer patients. Additionally, we analyzed eight overall survival-associated UbRGs using univariate Cox proportional hazard regression in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Subsequently, we used Lasso-Cox risk regression analysis to generate prognostic characteristics of UbRGs associated with overall survival (OS), validated in an external cohort (GSE158309). Next, we compared differences in tumor microenvironment and drug sensitivity between subgroups, describing the potential impact of UbRGs on the landscape of the tumor immune microenvironment and their predictive significance for therapeutic resistance to different strategies. Furthermore, a nomogram model containing eight genes, histology, subtype, T status, N status, and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage was constructed. Finally, and experiments validated the effects of FBXL6 and PDZRN3 on breast cancer development. In conclusion, we demonstrate that ubiquitin-related genes are closely associated with breast cancer prognosis, immune environment, and drug sensitivity. Our results offer a new insight into breast cancer treatment.
泛素-蛋白酶体系统通过多种机制影响癌症进展。由于在癌组织中观察到广泛的蛋白酶体修饰,泛素化与癌症的各种生物学功能密切相关。然而,泛素相关基因(UbRGs)在乳腺癌(BC)中的作用尚未得到充分研究。在本研究中,我们检索了763个可靠的UbRGs,并确定了乳腺癌患者的潜在预后特征。此外,我们在癌症基因组图谱(TCGA)数据库中使用单变量Cox比例风险回归分析了8个与总生存相关的UbRGs。随后,我们使用Lasso-Cox风险回归分析生成与总生存(OS)相关的UbRGs的预后特征,并在外部队列(GSE158309)中进行了验证。接下来,我们比较了亚组之间肿瘤微环境和药物敏感性的差异,描述了UbRGs对肿瘤免疫微环境格局的潜在影响及其对不同治疗策略耐药性的预测意义。此外,构建了一个包含8个基因、组织学、亚型、T状态、N状态和美国癌症联合委员会(AJCC)分期的列线图模型。最后,实验验证了FBXL6和PDZRN3对乳腺癌发展的影响。总之,我们证明泛素相关基因与乳腺癌预后、免疫环境和药物敏感性密切相关。我们的结果为乳腺癌治疗提供了新的见解。