Wang Yanping, Lin Gaoyang, Li Wenwen, Zhu Xue, Zhao Zhentong, Wang Quanxin
Department of Paediatrics, Qingdao Hiser Hospital Affiliated of Qingdao University (Qingdao Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital), Qingdao, China.
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Qingdao Hiser Hospital Affiliated of Qingdao University (Qingdao Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital), Qingdao, China.
Yale J Biol Med. 2025 Jun 30;98(2):117-134. doi: 10.59249/PMMF2985. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Lung cancer remains the malignancy with the highest morbidity and mortality worldwide. There are no effective guiding therapies and prognosis biomarkers, and the overall prognosis of lung cancer remains poor. The cardiomyocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF-2) family is a highly evolutionarily conserved transcription factor that plays important roles in a variety of diseases, including tumors. Still, the overall bioinformatics function of the MEF-2 gene family in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been systematically reported yet. MEF-2 family members have low expression in NSCLC tissues and are associated with clinicopathological stages. MEF-2B/2D is highly expressed in lung metastatic tissues. MEF-2A, MEF-2B, and MEF-2D have obvious advantages in the diagnosis of NSCLC. Survival analysis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database shows that MEF-2C is strongly associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses demonstrated that MEF-2A independently predicts the progression-free interval (PFI) in NSCLC patients. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed that MEF-2 family members are associated with immune cell receptor function and regulation of immunoglobulin complexes. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with MEF-2 family members were significantly enriched in the cAMP signaling pathway and gastric acid secretion. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed DEGs that play critical roles in the cytochrome-c oxidase activity, electron transfer activity, oxidoreduction-driven active transmembrane transporter activity; the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis shows that they are mainly enriched in oxidative phosphorylation, thermogenesis, and diabetic cardiomyopathy. MEF-2A is a potential diagnostic, prognostic biomarker, and promising therapeutic target for NSCLC. Further studies are needed to verify and clarify the underlying mechanisms.
肺癌仍然是全球发病率和死亡率最高的恶性肿瘤。目前尚无有效的指导性治疗方法和预后生物标志物,肺癌的总体预后仍然很差。心肌细胞增强因子2(MEF-2)家族是一种在进化上高度保守的转录因子,在包括肿瘤在内的多种疾病中发挥重要作用。然而,MEF-2基因家族在非小细胞肺癌(NSCLC)中的整体生物信息学功能尚未得到系统报道。MEF-2家族成员在NSCLC组织中表达较低,且与临床病理分期相关。MEF-2B/2D在肺转移组织中高表达。MEF-2A、MEF-2B和MEF-2D在NSCLC的诊断中具有明显优势。癌症基因组图谱(TCGA)数据库中肺腺癌(LUAD)患者的生存分析表明,MEF-2C与较差的总生存期(OS)和疾病特异性生存期(DSS)密切相关。单因素和多因素Cox分析表明,MEF-2A独立预测NSCLC患者的无进展生存期(PFI)。基因集富集分析(GSEA)显示,MEF-2家族成员与免疫细胞受体功能和免疫球蛋白复合物的调节有关。与MEF-2家族成员相关的差异表达基因(DEG)在cAMP信号通路和胃酸分泌中显著富集。基因本体(GO)分析揭示了在细胞色素c氧化酶活性、电子传递活性、氧化还原驱动的活性跨膜转运蛋白活性中起关键作用的DEG;京都基因与基因组百科全书(KEGG)通路富集分析表明,它们主要富集在氧化磷酸化、产热和糖尿病心肌病中。MEF-2A是NSCLC潜在的诊断、预后生物标志物和有前景的治疗靶点。需要进一步研究来验证和阐明其潜在机制。