VDR is a potential prognostic biomarker and positively correlated with immune infiltration: a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis with experimental verification

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a transcription factor that mediates a variety of biological functions of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Although there is growing evidence of cytological and animal studies supporting the suppressive role of VDR in cancers, the conclusion is still controversial in human cancers and no systematic pan-cancer analysis of VDR is available. We explored the relationships between VDR expression and prognosis, immune infiltration, tumor microenvironment, or gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) in 33 types of human cancers based on multiple public databases and R software. Meanwhile, the expression and role of VDR were experimentally validated in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). VDR expression decreased in 8 types and increased in 12 types of cancer compared with normal tissues. Increased expression of VDR was associated with either good or poor prognosis in 13 cancer types. VDR expression was positively correlated with the infiltration of cancer-associated fibroblasts, macrophages, or neutrophils in 20, 12, and 10 cancer types respectively and this correlation was experimentally validated in PTC. Increased VDR expression was associated with increased percentage of stromal or immune components in tumor microenvironment (TME) in 24 cancer types. VDR positively and negatively correlated genes were enriched in immune cell function and energy metabolism pathways, respectively, in the top 9 highly lethal tumors. Additionally, VDR expression was increased in PTC and inhibited cell proliferation and migration. In conclusion, VDR is a potential prognostic biomarker and positively correlated with immune infiltration as well as stromal or immune components in TME in multiple human cancers.

Low platelet count at diagnosis of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis is correlated with the severity of disease and renal prognosis

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) is an autoimmune disease that involves inflammation of blood vessels. There is increasing evidence that platelets play a crucial role not only in hemostasis but also in inflammation and innate immunity. In this study, we explored the relationship between platelet count, clinical characteristics, and the prognosis of patients with AAV. We divided 187 patients into two groups based on their platelet count. Clinicopathological data and prognostic information were retrospectively gathered from medical records. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to identify risk factors for prognosis, including end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and mortality. The cutoff point for platelet count was set at 264.5 × 109/L, as determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for predicting progression to ESRD in patients with AAV. We observed patients with low platelet count (platelets < 264.5 × 109/L) had lower leukocytes, hemoglobin, complement, acute reactants, and worse renal function (P for eGFR < 0.001). They were also more likely to progress to ESRD or death compared to the high platelet count group (platelets > 264.5 × 109/L) (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0338, respectively). Low platelet count was potentially an independent predictor of poor renal prognosis in the multivariate regression analysis [HR 1.670 (95% CI 1.019-2.515), P = 0.014]. Lower platelet count at diagnosis is associated with more severe clinical characteristics and impaired renal function. Therefore, platelet count may be an accessible prognostic indicator for renal outcomes in patients with AAV.

Defect Engineering of 2D Semiconductors for Dual Control of Emission and Carrier Polarity

2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are considered as promising materials in post-Moore technology. However, the low photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) and single carrier polarity due to the inevitable defects during material preparation are great obstacles to their practical applications. Here, an extraordinary defect engineering strategy is reported based on first-principles calculations and realize it experimentally on WS2 monolayers by doping with IIIA atoms. The doped samples with large sizes possess both giant PLQY enhancement and effective carrier polarity modulation. Surprisingly, the high PL emission maintained even after one year under ambient environment. Moreover, the constructed p-n homojunctions shows high rectification ratio (≈2200), ultrafast response times and excellent stability. Meanwhile, the doping strategy is universally applicable to other TMDCs and dopants. This smart defect engineering strategy not only provides a general scheme to eliminate the negative influence of defects, but also utilize them to achieve desired optoelectronic properties for multifunctional applications.

Bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation reveal that CDC20 overexpression promotes bladder cancer progression and potential underlying mechanisms

BACKGROUND

Bladder cancer is a prevalent malignancy. CDC20, a pivotal cell cycle regulator gene, plays a significant role in tumour cell proliferation, but its role in bladder cancer remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to analyse CDC20 expression in bladder cancer and explore its roles in tumour progression, treatment response, patient prognosis, and cellular proliferation mechanisms.

METHODS

We systematically analysed CDC20 expression in bladder cancer using bioinformatics. Our study investigated the impact of CDC20 on chemotherapy and radiotherapy sensitivity, patient prognosis, and changes in CDC20 methylation levels. We also explored the role and potential underlying mechanisms of CDC20 in bladder cancer cell growth. We used lentiviral transfection to downregulate CDC20 expression in 5637 and T24 cells, followed by CCK-8, colony formation, scratch, invasion, apoptosis, and cell cycle analyses.

RESULTS

CDC20 is highly expressed in bladder cancer and is significantly correlated with poor prognosis. Moreover, CDC20 demonstrated high diagnostic potential for bladder cancer (AUC > 0.9). The tumour methylation levels of CDC20 in tumour tissues markedly decreased compared with those in normal tissues, and lower methylation levels were associated with a worse prognosis. Elevated CDC20 expression is linked to increased mutation burden. Our findings suggested a potential association between high CDC20 expression and resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, as CDC20 expression may impact immune cell infiltration levels. Mechanistic analysis revealed the influence of CDC20 on bladder cancer cell proliferation through cell cycle-related pathways. According to the cell experiments, CDC20 downregulation significantly impedes bladder cancer cell proliferation and invasion, leading to G1 phase arrest.

CONCLUSION

Aberrantly high CDC20 expression promotes tumour progression in bladder cancer, resulting in a poor prognosis, and may also constitute a promising therapeutic target.

Effects of Dietary Terminalia chebula Extract on Growth Performance, Immune Function, Antioxidant Capacity, and Intestinal Health of Broilers

Terminalia chebula extract (TCE) has many physiological functions and is potentially helpful in maintaining poultry health, but its specific effect on the growth of broilers is not yet known. This research investigated the effects of dietary Terminalia chebula extract (TCE) supplementation on growth performance, immune function, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal health in yellow-feathered broilers. A total of 288 one-day-old yellow-feathered broilers were divided into four treatment groups (72 broilers/group), each with six replicates of 12 broilers. The broilers were given a basal diet of corn-soybean meal supplemented with 0 (control), 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg TCE for 56 d. The results demonstrated that, compared with the basal diet, the addition of TCE significantly increased (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) the final body weight and overall weight gain and performance and decreased (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) the feed-to-gain ratio in the overall period. Dietary TCE increased (linear, p < 0.05) the levels of IgM, IL-4, and IL-10 and decreased (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) the level of IL-6 in the serum. Dietary TCE increased (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) the levels of IL-2 and IL-4, decreased (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) the level of IL-1β, and decreased (linear, p < 0.05) the level of IL-6 in the liver. Dietary TCE increased (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) the level of IgM and IL-10, increased (linear, p < 0.05) the level of IgG, and decreased (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) the levels of IL-1β and IL-6 in the spleen. Supplementation with TCE linearly and quadratically increased (p < 0.05) the catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and total antioxidant capacity activities while decreasing (p < 0.05) the malonic dialdehyde concentrations in the serum, liver, and spleen. TCE-containing diets for broilers resulted in a higher (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) villus height, a higher (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) ratio of villus height to crypt depth, and a lower (linear and quadratic, p < 0.05) crypt depth compared with the basal diet. TCE significantly increased (linear, p < 0.05) the acetic and butyric acid concentrations and decreased (quadratic, p < 0.05) the isovaleric acid concentration. Bacteroidaceae and Bacteroides, which regulate the richness and diversity of microorganisms, were more abundant and contained when TCE was added to the diet. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that supplementing broilers with TCE could boost their immune function, antioxidant capacity, and gut health, improving their growth performance; they could also provide a reference for future research on TCE.

Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Using Recursive Feature Elimination-Graph Neural Network (RFE-GNN) and Phenotypic Feature Extractor (PFE)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) poses as a multifaceted neurodevelopmental condition, significantly impacting children's social, behavioral, and communicative capacities. Despite extensive research, the precise etiological origins of ASD remain elusive, with observable connections to brain activity. In this study, we propose a novel framework for ASD detection, extracting the characteristics of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data and phenotypic data, respectively. Specifically, we employ recursive feature elimination (RFE) for feature selection of fMRI data and subsequently apply graph neural networks (GNN) to extract informative features from the chosen data. Moreover, we devise a phenotypic feature extractor (PFE) to extract phenotypic features effectively. We then, synergistically fuse the features and validate them on the ABIDE dataset, achieving 78.7% and 80.6% accuracy, respectively, thereby showcasing competitive performance compared to state-of-the-art methods. The proposed framework provides a promising direction for the development of effective diagnostic tools for ASD.

HPCAL1 is a novel driver of autophagy-dependent ferroptosis

自噬是细胞内一种高度保守的生理过程，可通过溶酶体系统降解过量或受损的细胞器、有毒的蛋白聚集体和病原体等。最新研究表明，海马钙素样1（HPCAL1）可作为特异性自噬受体和铁死亡的正调节因子。HPCAL1可选择性降解钙粘素2（CDH2），加速脂质过氧化，促进癌细胞铁死亡。iHPCAL1是抑制HPCAL1的小分子化合物，可抑制Erastin诱导的肿瘤细胞铁死亡。此外，它还可以抑制铁死亡诱导的急性胰腺炎。本文通过对HPCAL1在铁死亡中的具体作用机制进行概述，为HPCAL1作为铁死亡相关疾病的潜在治疗靶点提供新思路和理论依据。

Temperature-Sensitive Nanocarbon Hydrogel for Photothermal Therapy of Tumors

Background

Intelligent hydrogels continue to encounter formidable obstacles in the field of cancer treatment. A wide variety of hydrogel materials have been designed for diverse purposes, but materials with satisfactory therapeutic effects are still urgently needed.

Methods

Here, we prepared an injectable hydrogel by means of physical crosslinking. Carbon nanoparticle suspension injection (CNSI), a sentinel lymph node imaging agent that has been widely used in the clinic, with sodium β-glycerophosphate (β-GP) were added to a temperature-sensitive chitosan (CS) hydrogel (CS/GP@CN) as an agent for photothermal therapy (PTT). After evaluating the rheological, morphological, and structural properties of the hydrogel, we used 4T1 mouse breast cancer cells and B16 melanoma cells to assess its in vitro properties. Then, we intratumorally injected the hydrogel into BALB/c tumor-bearing mice to assess the in vivo PTT effect, antitumor immune response and the number of lung metastases.

Results

Surprisingly, this nanocarbon hydrogel called CS/GP@CN hydrogel not only had good biocompatibility and a great PTT effect under 808nm laser irradiation but also facilitated the maturation of dendritic cells to stimulate the antitumor immune response and had an extraordinary antimetastatic effect in the lungs.

Discussion

Overall, this innovative temperature-sensitive nanocarbon hydrogel, which exists in a liquid state at room temperature and transforms to a gel at 37 °C, is an outstanding local delivery platform with tremendous PTT potential and broad clinical application prospects.

Comprehensive Analysis of the Transcriptome-Wide m6A Methylome in Shaziling Pig Testicular Development

RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is one of the principal post-transcriptional modifications and plays a dynamic role in testicular development and spermatogenesis. However, the role of m6A in porcine testis is understudied. Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the m6A transcriptome-wide profile in Shaziling pig testes at birth, puberty, and maturity. We analyzed the total transcriptome m6A profile and found that the m6A patterns were highly distinct in terms of the modification of the transcriptomes during porcine testis development. We found that key m6A methylated genes (AURKC, OVOL, SOX8, ACVR2A, and SPATA46) were highly enriched during spermatogenesis and identified in spermatogenesis-related KEGG pathways, including Wnt, cAMP, mTOR, AMPK, PI3K-Akt, and spliceosome. Our findings indicated that m6A methylations are involved in the complex yet well-organized post-transcriptional regulation of porcine testicular development and spermatogenesis. We found that the m6A eraser ALKBH5 negatively regulated the proliferation of immature porcine Sertoli cells. Furthermore, we proposed a novel mechanism of m6A modification during testicular development: ALKBH5 regulated the RNA methylation level and gene expression of SOX9 mRNA. In addition to serving as a potential target for improving boar reproduction, our findings contributed to the further understanding of the regulation of m6A modifications in male reproduction.

Decoupling trend and emission reduction potential of CO2 emissions from China's petrochemical industry

This paper aims to study the decoupling status and emission reduction potential of China's petrochemical industry from 1996 to 2019. Firstly, the IPCC method is used to calculate the CO₂ emissions of the petrochemical industry in China, then the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method is used to identify the influencing factors of CO₂ emissions, then the decoupling index is constructed to analyze the dependence of economic development on CO₂ emissions, and finally the emission reduction potential model is established by using the influencing factors to reflect the CO₂ emission reduction potential of the petrochemical industry. The results reveal that (1) the CO₂ emissions can be divided into two stages of slow decline (1996-2000), (2015-2019), and one stage of rapid growth (2000-2015). (2) The energy intensity effect is the most effective factor to restrain CO₂ emission, the economic growth effect is the key factor to promote CO₂ emission. (3) From 1996 to 2019, there was a weak decoupling relationship between CO₂ emission of petrochemical industry and economic development. Strong decoupling only occurred in 1996-2000 and 2015-2019. The CO₂ emissions show only three decoupling score: I, II, and III. (4) CO₂ mitigation occurred in four sub periods: 1996-2000, 2005-2010, 2010-2015, and 2015-2019. Therefore, the government should establish an energy-saving and environment-friendly industrial production system, intensify the use of clean energy, and optimize the labor force structure. It not only effectively strengthens the decoupling between the petrochemical industry and economic development, but also provides an empirical example for the carbon emission reduction and economic sustainable development of the petrochemical industry in other countries in the world.

Prevalence and risk factors for hyperhomocysteinemia: a population-based cross-sectional study from Hunan, China

OBJECTIVES

Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for hyperhomocysteinemia, especially modifiable lifestyle factors, such as smoking behaviour and dietary factors.

DESIGN

Population-based cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Hunan Province, China PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4012 participants completed the study, between July 2013 and March 2014. The median age is 55 (interquartile range: 45-63) years, with 1644 males (41%) and 2368 females (59%).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Homocysteine level were measured by the microplate enzyme immunoassay method. Hyperthomocysteinemia was defined as ≥15 µmol/L. Questionnaire was used to investigate potential risk factors of hyperhomocysteinemia. Crude odd ratio (OR) or adjusted OR with 95% CI were determined by using univariable or multivariable logistic regression models.

RESULTS

The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia is 35.4% (45.4% vs 28.5% for men, women, respectively). One-year increase in age is significantly associated with 2% higher risk of hyperhomocysteinemia (OR=1.02, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.03). One unit increase of BMI is associated with 5% higher risk of hyperhomocysteinemia (OR=1.05, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.07). Compared with the non-smoker, smoking participants have a 24% higher risk of hyperhomocysteinemia (OR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.006 to 1.53), while the risk for those quitting smoking are not significantly different (OR=1.14, 95% CI: 0.85 to 1.54). compared with those consuming fruit and vegetable at least once every day, those consuming less than once every day had a significantly higher risk of hyperhomocysteinemia (OR=1.29, 95% CI:1.11 to 1.50). In addition, we found there were significant sex interaction with education level or alcohol drinking on the risk of hyperhomocysteinemia (p_interaction <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher BMI and older age are potential risk factors for hyperhomocysteinemia. Current smoking but not quitting smoking is associated with higher risk of hyperhomocysteinemia. Fruit and vegetable consumption may have protective effect against hyperhomocysteinemia. Alcohol consumption or education level might interact to influence the risk of hyperhomocysteinemia.

Infrared Plasmonic Sensing with Anisotropic Two-Dimensional Material Borophene

Borophene, a new member of the two-dimensional material family, has been found to support surface plasmon polaritons in visible and infrared regimes, which can be integrated into various optoelectronic and nanophotonic devices. To further explore the potential plasmonic applications of borophene, we propose an infrared plasmonic sensor based on the borophene ribbon array. The nanostructured borophene can support localized surface plasmon resonances, which can sense the local refractive index of the environment via spectral response. By analytical and numerical calculation, we investigate the influences of geometric as well as material parameters on the sensing performance of the proposed sensor in detail. The results show how to tune and optimize the sensitivity and figure of merit of the proposed structure and reveal that the borophene sensor possesses comparable sensing performance with conventional plasmonic sensors. This work provides the route to design a borophene plasmonic sensor with high performance and can be applied in next-generation point-of-care diagnostic devices.

Experimental study on mechanical properties of heavy-haul low-vibration track under train static load

In this paper, a full-scale model of Low Vibration Track was established and three working conditions were applied to a single bearing block; these include: vertical load at the end of the track slab, combination of horizontal and vertical load at the end of the track slab, and vertical load at the middle of the track slab. By applying four times static wheel load to the full-scale model, the relationship between the stress of the track structure and the load under different working conditions was investigated. The corresponding load values were obtained when the track slab and the bearing block reached the axial tensile strength of the concrete. Through the static load test, the weak position of the track structure was found, and the development trend of the crack was obtained. (1) Obtained the maximum stress of the concrete of the track slab at the corner of the bearing block, the maximal stress of the concrete of the track slab, the stress at the bottom of the bearing block, and the stress at the bottom of the bearing block under different working conditions. (2) The horizontal load of the train increased the force of the track slab concrete at the corners of the bearing block. (3) Compared the strain of different location of the track slab and different working conditions. (4) Observed the positions of slight crack and its development trend appeared on track slabs in different working conditions. (5) For the weak part of the track structure, it can be improved by measures such as increasing the thickness of the end of the track slab and arranging stirrups in the track slab around the support block. The research results provide reference for the design, application and maintenance of Low Vibration Track in the heavy-haul railway tunnel.

Label-free quantitative identification of abnormally ubiquitinated proteins as useful biomarkers for human lung squamous cell carcinomas

BACKGROUND

Ubiquitination is an important molecular event in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), which currently is mainly studied in nonsmall cell lung carcinoma cell models but lacking of ubiquitination studies on LSCC tissues. Here, we presented the ubiquitinated protein profiles of LSCC tissues to explore ubiquitination-involved molecular network alterations and identify abnormally ubiquitinated proteins as useful biomarkers for predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM) in LSCC.

METHODS

Anti-ubiquitin antibody-based enrichment coupled with LC-MS/MS was used to identify differentially ubiquitinated proteins (DUPs) between LSCC and control tissues, followed by integrative omics analyses to identify abnormally ubiquitinated protein biomarkers for LSCC.

RESULTS

Totally, 400 DUPs with 654 ubiquitination sites were identified,, and motifs A-X (1/2/3)-K* were prone to be ubiquitinated in LSCC tissues. Those DUPs were involved in multiple molecular network systems, including the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), cell metabolism, cell adhesion, and signal transduction. Totally, 44 hub molecules were revealed by protein-protein interaction network analysis, followed by survival analysis in TCGA database (494 LSCC patients and 20,530 genes) to obtain 18 prognosis-related mRNAs, of which the highly expressed mRNAs VIM and IGF1R were correlated with poorer prognosis, while the highly expressed mRNA ABCC1 was correlated with better prognosis. VIM-encoded protein vimentin and ABCC1-encoded protein MRP1 were increased in LSCC, which were all associated with poor prognosis. Proteasome-inhibited experiments demonstrated that vimentin and MRP1 were degraded through UPS. Quantitative ubiquitinomics found ubiquitination level was decreased in vimentin and increased in MRP1 in LSCC. These findings showed that the increased vimentin in LSCC might be derived from its decreased ubiquitination level and that the increased MRP1 in LSCC might be derived from its protein synthesis > degradation. GSEA and co-expression gene analyses revealed that VIM and MRP1 were involved in multiple crucial biological processes and pathways. Further, TRIM2 and NEDD4L were predicted as E3 ligases to regulate ubiquitination of vimentin and MRP1, respectively.

CONCLUSION

These findings revealed ubiquitinomic variations and molecular network alterations in LSCC, which is in combination with multiomics analysis to identify ubiquitination-related biomarkers for in-depth insight into the molecular mechanism and therapeutic targets and for prediction, diagnosis, and prognostic assessment of LSCC.

Identification of clinical trait-related lncRNA and mRNA biomarkers with weighted gene co-expression network analysis as useful tool for personalized medicine in ovarian cancer

RELEVANCE

The pathogenesis and biomarkers of ovarian cancer (OC) remain not well-known in diagnosis, effective therapy, and prognostic assessment in OC personalized medicine. The novel identified lncRNA and mRNA biomarkers from gene co-expression modules associated with clinical traits provide new insight for effective treatment of ovarian cancer.

PURPOSE

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are relevant to tumorigenesis via multiple mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate cancer-specific lncRNAs and mRNAs, and their related networks in OCs.

METHODS

This study comprehensively analyzed lncRNAs and mRNAs with associated competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network and lncRNA-RNA binding protein-mRNA network in the OC tissues in the Cancer Genome Atlas, including 2562 cancer-specific lncRNAs (n = 352 OC tissues) and 5000 mRNAs (n = 359 OC tissues). The weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to construct the co-expression gene modules and their relationship with clinical traits. The statistically significant difference of identified lncRNAs and mRNAs was confirmed with qRT-PCR in OC cells.

RESULTS

An lncRNA-based co-expression module was significantly correlated with patient age at initial pathologic diagnosis, lymphatic invasion, tissues source site, and vascular invasion, and identified 16 lncRNAs (ACTA2-AS1, CARD8-AS1, HCP5, HHIP-AS1, HOTAIRM1, ITGB2-AS1, LINC00324, LINC00605, LINC01503, LINC01547, MIR31HG, MIR155HG, OTUD6B-AS1, PSMG3-AS1, SH3PXD2A-AS1, and ZBED5-AS1) that were significantly related to overall survival in OC patients. An mRNA-based co-expression module was significantly correlated with patient age at initial pathologic diagnosis, lymphatic invasion, tumor residual disease, and vascular invasion; and identified 21 hub-mRNA molecules and 11 mRNAs (FBN3, TCF7L1, SBK1, TRO, TUBB2B, PLCG1, KIAA1549, PHC1, DNMT3A, LAMA1, and C10orf82) that were closely linked with OC patients' overall survival. Moreover, the prognostic model of five-gene signature (OTUD6B-AS1, PSMG3-AS1, ZBED5-AS1, SBK1, and PLCG1) was constructed to predict risk score in OC patients. Furthermore, starBase bioinformatics constructed the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA and lncRNA-RNA binding protein-mRNA networks in OCs.

CONCLUSION

These new findings showed that lncRNA-related networks in OCs are a useful resource for identification of biomarkers in OCs.

Signaling pathway network alterations in human ovarian cancers identified with quantitative mitochondrial proteomics

RELEVANCE

Molecular network changes are the hallmark of the pathogenesis of ovarian cancers (OCs). Network-based biomarkers benefit for the effective treatment of OC.

PURPOSE

This study sought to identify key pathway-network alterations and network-based biomarkers for clarification of molecular mechanisms and treatment of OCs.

METHODS

Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) platform was used to mine signaling pathway networks with 1198 human tissue mitochondrial differentially expressed proteins (mtDEPs) and compared those pathway network changes between OCs and controls. The mtDEPs in important cancer-related pathway systems were further validated with qRT-PCR and Western blot in OC cell models. Moreover, integrative analysis of mtDEPs and Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data from 419 patients was used to identify hub molecules with molecular complex detection method. Hub molecule-based survival analysis and multiple multivariate regression analysis were used to identify survival-related hub molecules and hub molecule signature model.

RESULTS

Pathway network analysis revealed 25 statistically significant networks, 192 canonical pathways, and 5 significant molecular/cellular function models. A total of 52 canonical pathways were activated or inhibited in cancer pathogenesis, including antigen presentation, mitochondrial dysfunction, GP6 signaling, EIF2 signaling, and glutathione-mediated detoxification. Of them, mtDEPs (TPM1, CALR, GSTP1, LYN, AKAP12, and CPT2) in those canonical pathway and molecular/cellular models were validated in OC cell models at the mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, 102 hub molecules were identified, and they were regulated by post-translational modifications and functioned in multiple biological processes. Of them, 62 hub molecules were individually significantly related to OC survival risk. Furthermore, multivariate regression analysis of 102 hub molecules identified significant seven hub molecule signature models (HIST1H2BK, ALB, RRAS2, HIBCH, EIF3E, RPS20, and RPL23A) to assess OC survival risks.

CONCLUSION

These findings provided the overall signaling pathway network profiling of human OCs; offered scientific data to discover pathway network-based cancer biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of OCs; and clarify accurate molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets. These findings benefit for the discovery of effective and reliable biomarkers based on pathway networks for OC predictive and personalized medicine.