Identification of Potential Biomarkers in Glioblastoma through Bioinformatic Analysis and Evaluating Their Prognostic Value

Biomed Res Int. 2019 Apr 15:2019:6581576. doi: 10.1155/2019/6581576. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Glioblastoma is a common malignant tumor in the central nervous system with an extremely poor outcome; understanding the mechanisms of glioblastoma at the molecular level is essential for clinical treatment. In the present study, we used bioinformatics analysis to identify potential biomarkers associated with prognosis in glioblastoma and elucidate the underlying mechanisms. The result revealed that 552 common genes were differentially expressed between glioblastoma and normal tissues based on TCGA, GSE4290, and GSE 50161 datasets. Gene Oncology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were carried out to gain insight into the actions of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). As a result, 20 genes (CALB1, CDC20, CDCA8, CDK1, CEP55, DLGAP5, KIF20A, KIF4A, NDC80, PBK, RRM2, SYN1, SYP, SYT1, TPX2, TTK, VEGFA, BDNF, GNG3, and TOP2A) were found as hub genes via CytoHubba in Cytoscape and functioned mainly by participating in cell cycle and p53 signaling pathway; among them, RRM2 and CEP55 were considered to have relationship with the prognosis of glioblastoma, especially RRM2. High expression of RRM2 was consistent with shorter overall survival time. In conclusion, our study displayed the bioinformatic analysis methods in screening potential oncogenes in glioblastoma and underlying mechanisms. What is more is that we successfully identified RRM2 as a novel biomarker linked with prognosis, which might be expected to be a promising target for the therapy of glioblastoma.

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics*
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / genetics
  • Computational Biology
  • Databases, Genetic
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Gene Ontology
  • Glioblastoma / genetics*
  • Glioblastoma / pathology
  • Humans
  • Neoplasm Proteins / genetics*
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Prognosis*
  • Ribonucleoside Diphosphate Reductase / genetics

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Cep55 protein, human
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • ribonucleotide reductase M2
  • Ribonucleoside Diphosphate Reductase