Molecular mechanism detection of stage I to stage II transition of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a system biology approach.

AIM

Molecular mechanism detection of stage I to stage II transition of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis is the main aim of this study.

BACKGROUND

Esophageal cancer (EC) is recognized as cancer with a very poor prognosis and malignancy. It is characterized by a high prevalence rate within the world and a very low survival rate, even with treatment.

METHODS

To detect esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) related genes, gene expression profiles (GEPs) of GSE161533 from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were considered to be analyzed. Data was evaluated via the GEO2R program to explore the significant differential genes (DEGs) associated to stages I and II of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Each analysis's top 250 significant DEGs were evaluated, and the non-common genes were assessed via PPI network analysis. The hub-bottleneck DEGs were determined and enriched via gene ontology.

RESULTS

Results indicate 373 significant DEGs discriminate stage I from stage II. PPI network analysis associated with gene expression assessment showed that COL1A1, SERPINE1, PDGFRB, AURKA, TGFBI, LGALS3, BRCA1, and TFRC are the critical DEGs which are related to ESCC transition state from stage I to II of disease. A total of 13 biological processes and molecular functions were related to the crucial genes.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the Upregulation of COL1A1, SERPINE1, PDGFRB, AURKA, TGFB1, and LGALS3 and downregulation of BRCA1 and TFRC in stage II of ESCC relative to stage I were pointed out as the key events which are associated with promotion of stage I to stage II transition.