Clinical Significance and Integrative Analysis of the SMC Family in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hui Nie; Yutong Wang; Xuejie Yang; Zhiming Liao; Xiaoyun He; Jianhua Zhou; Chunlin Ou

doi:10.3389/fmed.2021.727965

Clinical Significance and Integrative Analysis of the SMC Family in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 Aug 30:8:727965. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.727965. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hui Nie¹, Yutong Wang¹, Xuejie Yang¹, Zhiming Liao¹, Xiaoyun He², Jianhua Zhou^{1

3

4}, Chunlin Ou^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
² Departments of Ultrasound Imaging, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
³ National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁴ Xiangya Lung Cancer Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Worldwide, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most malignant cancers with poor prognosis. The structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) gene family has been shown to play important roles in human cancers. Nevertheless, the role of SMC members in HCC is not well-understood. In this study, we comprehensively explored the role of the SMC family in HCC using a series of bioinformatic analysis tools. Studies have demonstrated that the mRNA expression levels of SMC1A, SMC1B, SMC2, SMC4, and SMC6 are significantly overexpressed in HCC, and the protein levels of SMC1A, SMC2, SMC3, SMC4, SMC5, and SMC6 are similarly elevated. Moreover, HCC patients with high SMC2 and SMC4 expression levels exhibit poor survival. Using KEGG and GO analyses, we analyzed the enrichment of gene expression in the biological functions and pathways of the SMC family in HCC. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that the expression of the SMC family is closely associated with B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and DCs. In conclusion, our findings will enhance a more thorough understanding of the SMC family in HCC progression and provide new directions for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC in the future.

Keywords: SMC family; biomarker; hepatocellular carcinoma; immune infiltration; methylation; therapeutic target.