Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Nov 24, 2023; 14(11): 479-503
Published online Nov 24, 2023. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v14.i11.479
Computational exploration of the significance of COPS6 in cancer: Functional and clinical relevance across tumor types
Shi-Lin Wang, Guang-Zheng Zhuo, Li-Ping Wang, Xiang-Hu Jiang, Guo-Hong Liu, Yun-Bao Pan, Yi-Rong Li
Shi-Lin Wang, Guang-Zheng Zhuo, Li-Ping Wang, Xiang-Hu Jiang, Yun-Bao Pan, Yi-Rong Li, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China
Guo-Hong Liu, Department of Radiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China
Co-first authors: Shi-Lin Wang and Guang-Zheng Zhuo.
Co-corresponding authors: Yun-Bao Pan and Yi-Rong Li.
Author contributions: Pan YB designed the research; Wang SL and Zhuo GZ performed the research; Wang SL, Wang LP and Zhuo GZ contributed analytic tools; Wang SL and Zhuo GZ analyzed the data; Wang SL and Pan YB wrote the paper; Pan YB and Li YR were responsible for the supervision. Wang SL and Zhuo GZ contributed equally to this work as co-first authors. The reasons for designating Wang SL and Zhuo GZ as co-first authors are twofold. First, the research was performed as a collaborative effort, and the designation of co-corresponding authorship accurately reflects the distribution of responsibilities and burdens associated with the time and effort required to complete the study and the resultant paper. Second, Wang SL and Zhuo GZ contributed an equally substantial effort throughout the study. They are principal principals of paper writing and data analysis, selecting these researchers as co-first authors, recognizing and respecting this equal contribution. Pan YB and Li YR contributed equally to this work as co-corresponding authors. The reasons for designating Pan YB and Li YR as co-corresponding authors are twofold. First, the research was performed as a collaborative effort. This ensures effective communication and management of post-submission matters, ultimately enhancing the paper's quality and reliability. Second, the overall research team encompassed authors with a variety of expertise and skills from different fields, and the designation of co-corresponding authors best reflects this diversity. Pan YB and Li YR, as heads of both groups, contributed substantially to the experimental design, data analysis and revision, and were therefore listed as co-corresponding authors.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 31900558; the Hubei Provincial Youth Talents Program for Public Health, No. WSJKRC2022013; Wuhan Young and Middle-Aged Medical Backbone Talents Training Project, No. WHQG201904.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at [panyunbao@outlook.com]. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yi-Rong Li, Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, No. 169 Donghu Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China. liyirong2021@126.com
Received: August 28, 2023
Peer-review started: August 28, 2023
First decision: September 14, 2023
Revised: September 20, 2023
Accepted: October 23, 2023
Article in press: October 23, 2023
Published online: November 24, 2023
Processing time: 85 Days and 20.8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The COP9 signaling body subunit 6 (COPS6) has been implicated in cancer progression, but its precise role in most types of cancer is unknown.

Research motivation

This study aimed to investigate the functional and clinical relevance of COPS6 in different tumor types, using publicly available databases.

Research objectives

This study hopes to provide a basis for COPS6 as a novel biomarker for cancer research by exploring the role of COPS6 in different cancer types.

Research methods

We used R software and online analysis databases to analyze the differential expression, prognosis, mutation and related functions of COPS6 in pan-cancer.

Research results

Differential expression analysis and survival analysis demonstrated that COPS6 was highly expressed and associated with high-risk profiles in the majority of cancer types. Missense mutations are the main type of COPS6 mutations, and in most types of cancer, the levels of COPS6 expression are positively correlated with tumor mutation burden and microsatellite instability. Immune infiltration analysis found COPS6 to play different roles in different cancers. Gene co-expression and enrichment analysis highlighted COPS6-related genes were predominantly involved in processes, such as ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and human immunodeficiency virus 1 infection.

Research conclusions

This study provides early evidence that COPS6 may be associated with the clinicopathological features of various tumors and may play a role in several cancer features, providing a basis for subsequent studies related to COPS6.

Research perspectives

Since this study mainly focused on data analysis, subsequent studies required experimental validation of relevant results.