Identification of the Potential Prognosis Biomarkers in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Analysis Based on WGCNA and PPI

Junting Huang; Yating Zhan; Lili Jiang; Yuxiang Gao; Binyu Zhao; Yuxiao Zhang; Wenjie Zhang; Jianjian Zheng; Jinglu Yu

doi:10.2147/IJGM.S338500

Identification of the Potential Prognosis Biomarkers in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Analysis Based on WGCNA and PPI

Int J Gen Med. 2021 Dec 10:14:9555-9565. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S338500. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Junting Huang^#¹, Yating Zhan^#¹, Lili Jiang^#¹, Yuxiang Gao^#¹, Binyu Zhao^#¹, Yuxiao Zhang¹, Wenjie Zhang¹, Jianjian Zheng¹, Jinglu Yu^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Hepato-Pancreatic Diseases of Zhejiang Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325000, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lishui Municipal Central Hospital, Lishui, People's Republic of China.
³ The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, Zhejiang, 323000, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Aim: This study was done to determine biomarkers for the prognostic prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials and methods: In the Gene Expression Omnibus, the gene expression profiles of HCC were downloaded. Biomarkers were identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis and protein-protein interaction network analysis.

Results: There were 24 modules, which were characterized by the high correlation with HCC. Meanwhile, through enrichment analysis, differentially expressed genes were largely participated in the ubiquitination and autophagy processes. Moreover, PRC1, TOP2A and CKAP2L may be the hub genes involved in HCC tumorigenesis, and their biomarker roles were further demonstrated via Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) and Oncomine databases. In addition, the levels of PRC1, TOP2A and CKAP2L were obviously up-regulated in the sera of HCC patients.

Conclusion: PRC1, TOP2A and CKAP2L may serve as biomarkers for the prognostic prediction of HCC patients.

Keywords: PPI; WGCNA; biomarker; hepatocellular carcinoma; prognosis.

Grants and funding

The Major Research and Development Project of Lishui (2019ZDYF11), Chinese National Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates (No.202010343027) and Zhejiang Provincial Research Center for Cancer Intelligent Diagnosis and Molecular Technology (JBZX-202003). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.