Isolated autosomal recessive woolly hair/hypotrichosis: genetics, pathogenesis and therapies

Prognostic Value and Clinical Significance of LIPH in Breast Cancer

Background

Lipase member H (LIPH), a novel member of the mammalian triglyceride lipase family, is localized on human chromosome 3q27-q28. Exploration of the importance of the new cancer-related gene LIPH in several carcinomas has been reported in previous studies. Our study aims to systematically assess the expression pattern of LIPH in breast cancer.

Methods

Our study explored 2994 breast cancer samples with transcriptome data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) datasets. We systematically evaluated the mRNA expression of LIPH in breast cancer and the overall survival (OS) of patients. The protein expression of LIPH in breast cancer was evaluated with the Human Protein Atlas. We also explored the relationship between LIPH and the immune microenvironment in pan-cancer.

Results

Both mRNA and protein expression LIPH were found to be upregulated in breast cancer tumors. The overall survival rate of patients with high LIPH expression was lower than those of patients with low LIPH expression in both the TCGA dataset (p=0.0067) and METABRIC dataset (p<0.0001). Outcomes of the multivariate analysis found that the level of LIPH expression was an independent prognostic factor in both TCGA (p=0.001) and METABRIC (p=0.019) databases. The outcomes of the univariate analysis showed that LIPH was an important prognostic factor (p=0.01 in TCGA dataset, p=0.001 in METABRIC dataset). In the TCGA dataset, outcomes showed that LIPH expression was negatively correlated with the AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) stage (p=2.3e-05) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tissues (p=3.1e-10). High LIPH expression showed lower OS in the TNBC subtype (P=0.011).

Conclusion

Compared to normal tissues, the expression of LIPH was higher in breast cancer tissues in both mRNA and protein levels. This study showed that the high level of LIPH expression might be related to the worse prognosis of breast cancer.

Update of recent findings in genetic hair disorders

Genetic hair disorders, although unusual, are not very rare, and dermatologists often have opportunities to see patients. Significant advances in molecular genetics have led to identifying many causative genes for genetic hair disorders, including the recently identified causative genes, such as LSS and C3ORF52. Many patients have been detected with autosomal recessive woolly hair/hypotrichosis in the Japanese population caused by founder mutations in the LIPH gene. Additionally, many patients with genetic hair disorders caused by other genes have been reported in East Asia including Japan. Understanding genetic hair disorders is essential for dermatologists, and the findings obtained from analyzing these diseases will contribute to revealing the mechanisms of hair follicle morphogenesis and development in humans.