Background The potential correlation between H2AFY (also known as MacroH2A1) and the clinical characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients was analysed through gene expression profiles and clinical data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and the diagnostic and prognostic value of H2AFY in HCC was discussed. Methods The gene expression data of HCC and the corresponding clinical characteristics of HCC patients were downloaded from the TCGA database. The differences in H2AFY in normal liver tissues and HCC were analysed. The relationship between H2AFY and clinical characteristics was analysed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, logistic regression and Kruskal-Wallis test. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox regression method were used to analyse the relationship between overall survival and clinical characteristics of the patients. An ROC curve was used to predict the diagnostic value of H2AFY in HCC. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to analyse the pathway enrichment of H2AFY. Result Compared with normal liver tissues, H2AFY was significantly highly expressed in HCC. H2AFY was positively correlated with the age, clinical stage, G stage and T stage of liver cancer patients. Higher H2AFY expression predicted a poor prognosis in HCC patients. Cox regression analysis suggested that H2AFY was an independent risk factor for the prognosis of HCC patients. The ROC curve suggested that H2AFY had certain diagnostic value in HCC. GSEA suggested that H2AFY was correlated with lipid metabolism and a variety of tumour pathways. Conclusion Our study showed that H2AFY was significantly overexpressed in HCC. H2AFY may be a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker for HCC, and high expression of H2AFY predicts a poor prognosis in patients with HCC.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a common health issue worldwide, and P-element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI)-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have been shown to be differentially expressed in a variety of diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential relationship between piRNA and NAFLD. A NAFLD mouse model was established using a methionine-and choline-deficient (MCD) diet and methionine-and choline-sufficient (MCS) diet. Following this, mouse liver tissues were removed and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and the levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total cholesterol and triglyceride were measured. Moreover, the liver tissues of the control and model groups were selected for piRNA gene chip analysis to identify piRNAs with differential expression in NAFLD. In addition, the differentially expressed piRNAs screened from the microarray were assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). piRNAs with potential research value were also selected for further analysis of target genes, using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. The present study identified a total of 1,285 piRNAs with differential expression levels. The results indicated that in the model group, 641 piRNAs were upregulated, while 644 piRNAs were downregulated. Furthermore, piRNAs were enriched in 'cancer', 'Hippo signaling', 'Wnt signaling' and 'Mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling' pathways. The RT-qPCR results demonstrated that piRNA DQ566704 and piRNA DQ723301 were significantly upregulated in the model group, which was largely consistent with the analysis results of the piRNA arrays. Therefore, the results of the piRNA arrays and the further analyses in the present study were considered reliable. Collectively, the present results suggest that differentially expressed piRNAs exist in NAFLD and may affect the development of NAFLD via related pathways.

Background: The potential correlation between H2AFY (also known as MacroH2A1) and the clinical characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients was analysed through gene expression profiles and clinical data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and the diagnostic and prognostic value of H2AFY in HCC was discussed. Methods: The gene expression data of HCC and the corresponding clinical characteristics of HCC patients were downloaded from the TCGA database. The differences in H2AFY in normal liver tissues and HCC were analysed. The relationship between H2AFY and clinical characteristics was analysed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, logistic regression and Kruskal-Wallis test. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox regression method were used to analyse the relationship between overall survival and clinical characteristics of the patients. An ROC curve was used to predict the diagnostic value of H2AFY in HCC. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to analyse the pathway enrichment of H2AFY. Result: Compared with normal liver tissues, H2AFY was significantly highly expressed in HCC. H2AFY was positively correlated with the age, clinical stage, G stage (grade) and T stage (tumor stage) of liver cancer patients. Higher H2AFY expression predicted a poor prognosis in HCC patients. Cox regression analysis suggested that H2AFY was an independent risk factor for the prognosis of HCC patients. The ROC curve suggested that H2AFY had certain diagnostic value in HCC. GSEA suggested that H2AFY was correlated with lipid metabolism and a variety of tumour pathways. Conclusion: Our study showed that H2AFY was significantly overexpressed in HCC. H2AFY may be a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker for HCC, and high expression of H2AFY predicts a poor prognosis in patients with HCC.