Int J Clin Exp Pathol 2017;10(10):10650-10665 www.ijcep.com /ISSN:1936-2625/IJCEP0065149 Original Article Upregulation of HOXA13 as a potential tumorigenesis and progression promoter of LUSC based on qRT-PCR and bioinformatics Rui Zhang1*, Yun Deng1*, Yu Zhang1, Gao-Qiang Zhai1, Rong-Quan He2, Xiao-Hua Hu2, Dan-Ming Wei1, Zhen-Bo Feng1, Gang Chen1 Departments of 1Pathology, 2Medical Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. *Equal contributors. Received September 7, 2017; Accepted September 29, 2017; Epub October 1, 2017; Published October 15, 2017 Abstract: In this study, we investigated the levels of homeobox A13 (HOXA13) and the mechanisms underlying the co-expressed genes of HOXA13 in lung squamous cancer (LUSC), the signaling pathways in which the co-ex- pressed genes of HOXA13 are involved and their functional roles in LUSC. The clinical significance of 23 paired LUSC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues were gathered. HOXA13 levels in LUSC were detected by quantita- tive real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). HOXA13 levels in LUSC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Oncomine were analyzed. We performed receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves of various clinicopath- ological features of LUSC. Co-expressed of HOXA13 were collected from MEM, cBioPortal and GEPIA. The func- tions and pathways of the most reliable overlapped genes were achieved from the Gene Otology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases, respectively. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) net- works were mapped using STRING. HOXA13 in LUSC were markedly upregulated compared with those in the non- cancerous controls as demonstrated by qRT-PCR (LUSC: 0.330±0.360; CONTROLS: 0.155±0.142; P=0.021). TCGA (LUSC: 6.388±2.097, CONTROLS: 1.157±0.719; P<0.001) and Hou’s study from Oncomine (LUSC: 1.154±0.260; CONTROLS: 0.957±0.065; P=0.001) showed the same tendency. Meanwhile, the area under the curve (AUC) of TNM was calculated as 0.877 with P=0.002. Based on the HOXA13 expression data from TCGA, the ROC of the tis- sue types was calculated as AUC=0.971 (P<0.001). In addition, 506 genes were filtered as co-expression genes of HOXA13. The 3 most significant KEGG pathways were metabolic pathways (P=5.41E-15), the calcium signaling path- way (P=3.01E-11), and the cAMP signaling pathway (P=5.63E-11). MAPK1, GNG7, GNG12, PRKCA were selected as the hub genes. In conclusion, HOXA13 was upregulated and related to the TNM stage in LUSC. The expression of hub genes in LUSC might be deregulated by HOXA13. Moreover, the 4 co-expressed hub genes of HOXA13 might be crucial biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of LUSC, as well as the development of novel therapeutic targets against LUSC. Keywords: HOXA13, lung squamous cancer, potential mechanisms, bioinformatics Introduction ing, about 30% of lung cancer patients were diagnosed as the squamous histopathological Lung cancer is one of the most frequent can- subtype [6]. The survival rate of advanced LUSC cers occurring in men and women in 2017, as patients remains poor, only less than 5% of well as a worldwide leading cause of cancer patients surviving 5 years after chemothera- deaths [1]. As a life-threatening disease, it is peutic regimens [7]. Although tobacco smoke categorized into two different major groups: causes lung cancer was well established, not non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small all lung cancer patients respond to it. Dysregu- cell lung cancer (SCLC). At least 80%-85% of all lated genetic factors are speculated to play an lung tumors belong to NSCLC. LUSC and lung important role in lung cancer susceptibility. adenocarcinomas (LUAD) are the most com- mon histological subtypes of NSCLC [2-5]. In The homeobox genes were discovered in Droso- addition, due to the high prevalence of smok- phila firstly, where their mutations could cause Upregulation of HOXA13 in LUSC Table 1. The clinical significance of 23 LUSC patients ber of the homeobox genes, HOXA13 Clinical significance N has an oncogene-like character in mul- tiple cancers. HOXA13 can enhance Clinicopathological types LUSC 23 gastric cancer cell invasion and the epi- Adjacent non-cancerous tissues 23 thelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) Tumor size ≤3 cm 7 via the TGF-β signaling pathway. Upre- >3 cm 16 gulation of HOXA13 is related to a poor- TNM stage I-II 10 er prognosis of gastric cancer patients III-IV 13 [22, 23]. In prostate cancer, both cell Gender Male 18 growth and cell cycle were closely as- Female 5 sociated with downregulated HOXA13. Age <60 years 15 Lower HOXA13 exerts a role of tumor- ≥60 years 8 suppressor and provides a potential th- Smoking Yes 11 erapeutic approach against this malig- nancy [24]. In part, HOXA13 promotes No 12 progression of glioma and would be Vascular invasion Yes 3 helpful to diagnose glioblastoma. HO- No 20 XA13 was also revealed to be an inde- Grading I 0 pendent prognostic factor especially in II 16 high-grade glioma [25]. III 7 Note: TNM, tumor-node-metastasis. However, the probable mechanisms and pathways of HOXA13 in lung cancer have rarely been reported. Sang Y et al. the malformations of body parts in inappropri- found that HOTTIP was a transcriptional modu- ate contexts [8, 9]. Both class I (HOX) and class lator of HOXA13 and partly regulated HOXA13 II (non-HOX) are generally belong to homeobox to promote cell proliferation, migration, and in- genes. A total of 39 HOX genes have been iden- hibit apoptosis of lung cancer cell [26]. Kang JU tified in humans and are clustered into 4 groups et al. demonstrated that rearranged 7p arm of named A, B, C and D, respectively. In addition, HOXA13 (7p15.2) may be a valuable potential each member of HOX genes in a cluster is target and a therapeutic target for LUAD [27]. In named from 1 to 13 [10, 11]. Different clusters this study, we aimed to investigate the potential of homeobox genes play essential roles in roles of HOXA13 in LUSC. The clinical signifi- embryonic morphogenesis, including organ sys- cance of HOXA13 in LUSC was gathered from tems, skeletal, limb and craniofacial region. In qRT-PCR results and the TCGA and Oncomine adults, homeobox genes also regulate tissue databases. Meanwhile, the potential mecha- regeneration and play fundamental roles for nisms and pathways of the co-expressed genes the control of the self-renewal and differentia- of HOXA13 in LUSC were predicted. Moreover, tion of hematopoietic progenitors [8, 12, 13]. A the correlated functions between HOXA13 and lot of studies have reported that abnormal lev- its several pivotal co-expressed genes in LUSC els of HOX genes in certain organs could either were studied based on the aforementioned suppress tumors or promote tumors, including information. the prostate [14], ovary [15], breast [16], kidney Methods and materials [17], and lung [18, 19]. Altered expression of HOXA genes were reported in breast and ovari- Clinicopathological significance an cancers. In colon cancers, both HOXB and HOXD genes were dysregulated. Moreover, ab- Sample collection: 23 paired LUSC and adja- errantly expressed HOXC genes were indicated cent non-cancerous lung tissues were obtained in prostate and lung cancers [20]. Based on from patients who performed surgery at The the gene amplification, loss of heterozygosity, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical Uni- histone deacetylation and CpG island promo- versity between January 2012 and February ter hypermethylation, dysregulated HOX genes 2014 and were histopathologically diagnosed would facilitate the development and progres- with LUSC. The clinicopathological information sion of cancers consequently [21]. As a mem- of the patients is shown in Table 1. The study 10651 Int J Clin Exp Pathol 2017;10(10):10650-10665 Upregulation of HOXA13 in LUSC Table 2. Correlations between clinical significance and expression of HOXA13 in LUSC LUSC expression condition (2-ΔXθ) Clinical significance N Mean SD t (or F) P value Clinicopathological types LUSC 23 0.330 0.360 2.480 0.021 Adjacent non-cancerous tissues 23 0.155 0.142 Tumor size ≤3 cm 7 0.414 0.484 0.732 0.472 >3 cm 16 0.294 0.303 TNM stage I-II 10 0.112 0.072 -3.385 0.005 III-IV 13 0.499 0.404 Gender Male 18 0.349 0.394 0.461 0.650 Female 5 0.264 0.212 Age <60 years 15 0.340 0.368 0.170 0.867 ≥60 years 8 0.313 0.369 Smoking Yes 11 0.472 0.461 -1.846 0.089 No 12 0.201 0.166 Vascular invasion Yes 3 0.466 0.176 -0.693 0.496 No 20 0.310 0.379 Grading I 0 - - 0.788 0.385 II 16 0.375 0.412 III 7 0.229 0.183 Note: t, Student’s t-test; F, one-way ANOVA; SD, standard deviation; TNM, tumor-node-metastasis. Figure 1. qRT-PCR results of HOXA13 levels in LUSC. A. Expression of HOXA13 in LUSC and non-cancerous tissues from qRT-PCR; B. HOXA13 levels in different TNM stages from qRT-PCR; C. ROC of HOXA13 in different TNM stages. was undertaken with the understanding and purity of RNA, and the A260/280 ratio was 1.8- written consent of each patient. 2.0. According to the manufacturer’s instruc- tions, total RNA was reverse transcribed in a RNA extraction and qRT-PCR assay: Total RNA final volume of 10 µl using a reverse transcrip- was extracted from FFPE tissues using the tion kit (ABI, Life Technologies, USA).
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