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. 2020 Oct;11(5):983-998.
doi: 10.21037/jgo-20-223.

Expression and prognostic value of Chromobox family members in gastric cancer

Tao Ma  1 , Ning Ma  1 , Jia-Lin Chen  1 , Fu-Xin Tang  1 , Zhen Zong  2 , Zhuo-Min Yu  1 , Shuang Chen  1 , Tai-Cheng Zhou  1
Affiliations

Expression and prognostic value of Chromobox family members in gastric cancer

Tao Ma et al. J Gastrointest Oncol. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Background: The Chromobox (CBX) protein family, which is a crucial part of the epigenetic regulatory complex, plays an important role in the occurrence and development of cancer; however, the function and prognostic value of CBX family members in gastric cancer is not clear.

Methods: we investigated the relationship between CBX members and gastric cancer using a range of tools and databases: Oncomine, Kaplan-Meier plotter, cBioPortal, ULCAN, Metascape, and GEPIA.

Results: The results showed that, relative to normal gastric tissue, mRNA expression levels of CBX1-6 were significantly higher in gastric cancer tissue, whereas the level of CBX7 was significantly lower. Furthermore, overexpression of CBX3-6 and underexpression of CBX7 mRNAs was significantly related to the poor prognosis and survival of gastric cancer patients, making these CBX family members useful biomarkers. Finally, overexpression of CBX1 mRNA was significantly related to the poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients treated with adjuvant 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy.

Conclusions: The members of the CBX family can be used as prognosis and survival biomarkers for gastric cancer and CBX1 may be a biomarker for choosing the chemotherapy regimen of gastric cancer patients.

Keywords: Chromobox (CBX) protein; gastric cancer; prognosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jgo-20-223). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Transcriptional expression of Chromobox (CBX) family members in 20 types of cancer. Analyses were conducted in Oncomine. Red box shows data for gastric cancer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
mRNA expression of eight Chromobox (CBX) family members in gastric cancer and normal tissues. Analyses were conducted in GEPIA. (A) Scatter diagram of CBX mRNA expression. Red: overexpressed in tumor tissue; green: underexpressed in tumor tissue; black: no significant difference in expression (P>0.05). (B) Box plots of CBX mRNA expression. Red: tumor tissue; blue: normal tissue; *, P<0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relationships between mRNA expression levels of eight Chromobox (CBX) family members and the clinicopathological stages of gastric cancer. Analyses were conducted using GEPIA.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relationships between mRNA expression levels of eight Chromobox (CBX) family members and the grades of gastric cancer. Analyses conducted using the UALCAN. *, P<0.05; **, P<0.01; ***, P<0.001.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Relationships between mRNA expression levels of eight Chromobox (CBX) family members and the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. Analyses were conducted using the Kaplan-Meier plotter.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Relationships between the mRNA expression levels of eight Chromobox (CBX) family members and the prognosis of patients given differing treatments. Treatments were surgery (alone, i.e., with no other treatment) or 5-fluorouracil (5 FU)-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Analyses were conducted using the Kaplan-Meier plotter.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Relationships between Chromobox (CBX) gene mutations and survival in gastric cancer patients. (A) The CBX gene mutations [118] observed in gastric cancer patients [265]. (B) Overall survival time (OS, left) and disease-free survival (DFS, right) in gastric cancer patients. Analyses were conducted in cBioPortal.
Figure 8
Figure 8
The predicted functions, pathways, and protein-protein interactions of CBX genes and similar genes. (A) Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, (B) Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) analysis, and (C) Network of enriched terms of CBX genes and similar genes. (D) Protein-protein interaction (PPI) enrichment analysis of these genes and MCODE (Molecular Complex Detection) components identified in the gene lists. Analyses were conducted in Metascape.
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