High expression of C10orf91 and LINC01224 in hepatocellular carcinoma and poor prognosis

Abstract

Background: The dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been implicated roles in the pathogenesis of many human diseases, including hepatic diseases. Several lncRNAs have been associated with the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but their function as diagnostic markers for liver cancer remain to be determined.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the potential diagnostic markers for liver cancer.

Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to obtain the gene transcriptome data of liver cancer. In addition, this study enrolled 70 liver cancer patients admitted to the Yiwu Central Hospital and 50 healthy people who concurrently underwent physical examinations from February 2017 to January 2020. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of C10orf91 and LINC01224 in the patients' tissues and serum. A 5-year follow-up was conducted for survival observation. The potential and targeted miRs of C10orf91 and LINC01224 were predicted by online database for miRNA target prediction. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were conducted and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was plotted.

Results: A total of 175 differentially expressed lncRNAs were screened out, of which 173 were upregulated and 2 were downregulated. C10orf91, and LINC01224 were independent prognostic factors for liver cancer (P<0.05). C10orf91 and LINC01224 had diagnostic value for differentiating liver cancer, tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging, and lymphatic metastasis. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that C10orf91 and LINC01224 were involved in 23 significant biological functions and 35 significant signal transduction pathways respectively.

Conclusion: C10orf91 and LINC01224 are highly expressed in liver cancer patients withpoor prognosis.

Keywords: C10orf91; LINC01224; TCGA; ceRNA network; liver cancer; prognosis.

Figure 1

Heatmap of differentially expressed lncRNAs based on TCGA database. Red represents high expression and green represents low expression.

Figure 2

A volcano map. Red represents high expression and green represents low expression.

Figure 3

Correlations of AC009014.3, C10orf91, and LINC01224 with patient survival. A: There was no significant difference in the overall survival rate between the AC009014.3 high and low expression groups; B: Patients with high expression of C10orf91 had a poor prognosis; C: Patients with high expression of LINC01224 had a poor prognosis.

Figure 4

Expression and diagnostic value of C10orf91 and LINC01224. A: C10orf91 and LINC01224 were highly expressed in the serum of patients with liver cancer; B: C10orf91 and LINC01224 were highly expressed in the tissues of patients with liver cancer; C: The correlations between C10orf91 and LINC01224 expression in the serum and in the tissues; D: The expression of C10orf91 and LINC01224 in patients with stages I+II and III+IV of liver cancer; lymphatic metastasis; E: The expression of C10orf91 and LINC01224 in patients with and without lymph node metastasis; F: The ROC curves of serum C10orf91 and LINC01224 expression for diagnosing liver cancer as well as distinguishing stages I+II from stages III+IV and the presence or absence of lymph node metastasis. *** indicates P<0.001.

Figure 5

Correlations of C10orf91 and LINC01224 with 5-year survival. A: Differences in the 5-year survival rate between the C10orf91 high and low expression groups; B: Differences in the 5-year survival rate between the LINC01224 high and low expression groups; C: The 5-year overall survival.

Figure 6

Bioinformatics analysis. A: The ceRNA network. Red is lncRNA, orange is miR, and blue is mRNA; B: The GO enrichment function. The difference is more significant from red to blue; C: The KEGG signal pathway enrichment. The difference is more significant from red to blue.