Identify Function of WASL in Prognosis of Cervical Cancer Based on Omics Data

Jinxuan Hou; Chen Chen; Yingying Hu; Qing Gong; Lijuan Gan; Yu Xu

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.670890

Identify Function of WASL in Prognosis of Cervical Cancer Based on Omics Data

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Jun 8:9:670890. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.670890. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jinxuan Hou¹, Chen Chen^{2

3}, Yingying Hu⁴, Qing Gong⁵, Lijuan Gan⁶, Yu Xu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
² Human Genetics Resource Preservation Center of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
³ Human Genetics Resource Preservation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, China.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
⁶ Department of Gynecological Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Tumor Biological Behaviors, Hubei Cancer Clinical Study Center, Wuhan, China.
⁷ Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

Objective: To clarify the clinical relevance of WASP like actin nucleation promoting factor (WASL) in patients with cervical cancer and associated mechanisms.

Methods and materials: We obtained high prediction accuracy and determined the correlation between the expression of WASL and the clinical characteristics of cervical cancer patients. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using microarray. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were performed to determine potentially relevant mechanisms related to the prognostication ability of WASL expression.

Results: Chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression analysis suggested that lower expression of WASL was associated with lower pathological stage (chi-square test: p = 0.022, chi-square = 9.613; logistic regression: OR = 0.869, 95% CI: 0.756-0.991, p = 0.041). Patients in the WASL high expression group have worse overall survival (OS) [hazard ratio (HR): 0.555, 95% CI: 0.348-0.884, log-rank p = 0.012] and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 0.449, 95% CI: 0.215-0.934, log-rank p = 0.028) compared with those in the WASL low expression group. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model suggested that WASL expression was an independent prognostic factor for predicting OS and RFS in cervical cancer. DEGs were mostly enriched GO terms related to DNA replication or the proliferation of tumor cells. The results of GSEA suggested samples in the WASL knockdown group were enriched in glycolysis, TNF-α signaling via NFkB, mTORC1 signaling, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Conclusions: WASL expression was associated with the pathological stage, and it might be an independent prognostication factor in patients with cervical cancer. Knockdown of WASL might be correlated with biological processes such as glycolysis, TNFα signaling, mTOR signaling, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Keywords: WASL; cervical cancer; microarray; omics; prognosis.