摘要
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC),the major subtype of esophageal carcinoma(ESCA),is one of the most lethal malignancies worldwide.This study aimed to identify potential biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets for ESCC.The datasets GSE44021,GSE77861,GSE20347,and GSE29001 retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database contained 117 ESCC tissues and 109 normal tissues.Differentially expressed genes(DEGs)associated with ESCC were identified using the GEO2R tool.Dysregulated pathways associated with ESCC mainly included mitotic regulation,cell cycle,ECM-receptor interaction,DNA replication,etc.The protein-protein interaction(PPI)network of overlapping DEGs was constructed and nine key genes(KGs)were identified from the complex interaction network using Degree,maximum neighborhood component(MNC),and maximal clique centrality(MCC)algorithms.Expression patterns of KGs at the transcriptional and translational levels were validated using ESCC-related data from the Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA),Oncomine,and Human Protein Atlas(HPA)databases.Genetic alterations calculation,immune cell infiltrates evaluation,methylation analysis,prognostic analysis,transcription factors(TFs)and miRNAs regulatory networks construction,and targeted drug prediction were further performed.It was also found that the knockout of these KGs affected the survival of more than two types of ESCC cells by genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 dropout screens.In conclusion,we identified KGs,TFs,and miRNAs with biomarker potential(e.g.,NDC80,BUB1,TOP2A,AURKA,AURKB,TTK,UBE2C,TPX2,BUB1B,E2F1,and hsa-miR-483-5p)and 23 candidate targeted drugs for ESCC by utilizing an integrated multi-omics approach.These findings provide additional insights into uncovering the molecular mechanism and improving the efficiency of clinical diagnosis and treatment for ESCC.
基金
supported by the Innovation Capacity Building Project of the Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission(2021C041-1).
