Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 26, 2020; 8(4): 658-669
Published online Feb 26, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i4.658
Identification of key genes and pathways in gastric signet ring cell carcinoma based on transcriptome analysis
Zi-Tong Zhao, Yang Li, Hong-Yu Yuan, Fu-Hai Ma, Yong-Mei Song, Yan-Tao Tian
Zi-Tong Zhao, Hong-Yu Yuan, Yong-Mei Song, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
Yang Li, Fu-Hai Ma, Yan-Tao Tian, Department of Pancreatic and Gastric Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
Author contributions: Zhao ZT and Li Y contributed equally to this work; Zhao ZT, Li Y, Yuan HY, Ma FH, Song YM, and Tian YT contributed to the design of the study and the writing of the manuscript; all the authors reviewed and approved the final version to be published.
Supported by National Key R&D Program of China, No. 2018YFC1313101; Wu Jieping Medical Foundation, No. 320.6750.15276.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the institutional review board of the National Cancer Center of China.
Informed consent statement: The institutional review board of the National Cancer Center of China waived informed consent due to the retrospective nature of this research.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yan-Tao Tian, MD, Professor, Department of Pancreatic and Gastric Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, No. 17, Panjiayuan Nanli, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100021, China. tyt67@163.com
Received: January 2, 2020
Peer-review started: January 2, 2020
First decision: January 19, 2020
Revised: January 20, 2020
Accepted: February 15, 2020
Article in press: February 15, 2020
Published online: February 26, 2020
Processing time: 55 Days and 8.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (GSRCC) is one of the most malignant tumors. It has the features of high invasiveness, rapid progression, and resistance to chemotherapy. However, systematic analyses of mRNAs have not yet been performed for GSRCC.

AIM

To identify key mRNAs and signaling pathways in GSRCC.

METHODS

A transcriptome analysis of two GSRCC and two non-GSRCC samples was performed in this study. Differentially expressed mRNAs and pathways were identified based on the KEGG and PANTHER pathway annotations. The interactive relationships among the differential genes were mapped with the STRING database. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the key gene expression in GSRCC.

RESULTS

About 1162 differential genes (using a 2-fold cutoff, P < 0.05) were identified in GSRCC compared with non-GSRCC. The enriched KEGG and PANTHER pathways for the differential genes included immune response pathways, metabolic pathways, and metastasis-associated pathways. Ten genes (MAGEA2, MAGEA2B, MAGEA3, MAGEA4, MAGEA6, MUC13, GUCA2A, FFAR4, REG1A, and REG1B) were identified as hub genes in the protein-protein interaction network. The expression levels of five genes (MAGEA2, MAGEA3, MAGEA4, MAGEA6, and REG1B) showed potential clinical value.

CONCLUSION

We have identified the potential key genes and pathways in GSRCC, and these hub genes and pathways could be diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for GSRCC.

Keywords: Signet ring cell; Transcriptome sequencing; Gastric carcinoma; Bioinformatical analysis; Pathway; Gene

Core tip: Gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (GSRCC) is one of the most malignant tumors. It has the features of high invasiveness, rapid progression, and resistance to chemotherapy. However, systematic analyses of mRNAs have not yet been performed for GSRCC. We have identified the potential key genes and pathways of GSRCC, and these hub genes and pathways could be diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for GSRCC.