Open Access

Identification of key genes and pathways for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by bioinformatics analysis

  • Authors:
    • Xiaohua Chen
    • Sina Cai
    • Baoxia Li
    • Xiaona Zhang
    • Wenhui Li
    • Henglun Linag
    • Xiaolong Cao
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: June 15, 2018     https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2018.6316
  • Pages: 1121-1130
  • Copyright: © Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in esophageal squamous‑cellcarcinoma (ESCC) and provide potential therapeutic targets. The microarray dataset GSE20347 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and included 17 tissue samples and 13 normal adjacent tissue samples from patients with ESCC. A total of 22,277 DEGs were identified. A heat map for the DEGs was constructed with the Morpheus online tool and the top 200 genes (100 upregulated and 100 downregulated) were selected for further bioinformatics analysis, including analysis of gene ontology (GO) terms, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, protein‑protein interaction networks and Spearman's correlation tests. The results of the GO analysis indicated that the upregulated DEGs were most significantly enriched in membrane‑bounded vesicles in the cellular component (CC) category, but were not significantly enriched in any GO terms of the categories biological process (BP) or molecular function (MF); furthermore, the downregulated DEGs were most significantly enriched in regulation of DNA metabolic processes, nucleotide binding and chromosomes in the categories BP, MF and CC, respectively. The KEGG analysis indicated that the downregulated DEGs were enriched in the regulation of cell cycle pathways. The top 10 hub proteins in the protein‑protein interaction network were cyclin‑dependent kinase 4, budding uninhibited by benzimidazoles 1, cyclin B2, heat shock protein 90AA1, aurora kinase A, H2A histone family member Z, replication factor C subunit 4, and minichromosome maintenance complex component 2, ‑4 and ‑7. These proteins are mainly involved in regulating tumor progression. The genes in the four top modules were mainly implicated in regulating cell cycle pathways. Secreted Ly‑6/uPAR‑related protein (SLURP) was the hub gene, and SLURP and its interacting genes were most enriched in the chromosomal part in the CC category, organelle organization in the BP category and protein binding in the MF category, and were involved in pathways including DNA replication, cell cycle and P53 signaling. The expression of SLURP‑1 in fifteen patients with esophageal carcinoma was detected using quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, and the results indicated that SLURP‑1 expression was significantly decreased in the tumor samples relative to that in normal adjacent tissues. These results suggest that several hub proteins and the hub gene SLURP‑1 may serve as potential therapeutic targets, and that gene dysfunction may be involved in the tumorigenesis of ESCC.
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August-2018
Volume 16 Issue 2

Print ISSN: 1792-0981
Online ISSN:1792-1015

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Copy and paste a formatted citation
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Spandidos Publications style
Chen X, Cai S, Li B, Zhang X, Li W, Linag H and Cao X: Identification of key genes and pathways for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by bioinformatics analysis. Exp Ther Med 16: 1121-1130, 2018.
APA
Chen, X., Cai, S., Li, B., Zhang, X., Li, W., Linag, H., & Cao, X. (2018). Identification of key genes and pathways for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by bioinformatics analysis. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 16, 1121-1130. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2018.6316
MLA
Chen, X., Cai, S., Li, B., Zhang, X., Li, W., Linag, H., Cao, X."Identification of key genes and pathways for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by bioinformatics analysis". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 16.2 (2018): 1121-1130.
Chicago
Chen, X., Cai, S., Li, B., Zhang, X., Li, W., Linag, H., Cao, X."Identification of key genes and pathways for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by bioinformatics analysis". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 16, no. 2 (2018): 1121-1130. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2018.6316