Assessment of molecular mechanisms and potential biomarkers in bladder urothelial carcinoma

Abstract

Objective: Bladder cancer ranks 10th among the most common cancers worldwide, effecting mostly man than women. The aim of this study is to perform a detailed gene expression analysis of bladder urothelial carcinoma to reveal altered molecular mechanisms and to find potential biomarkers for this cancer.
 Materials and Methods: Bladder urothelial carcinoma RNA-seq data from TCGA and normal bladder samples from GTEx were analyzed by using GEPIA. Differentially expressed genes were annotated to GO-BP and KEGG pathway terms with DAVID and PPI networks were constructed by STRING. The association of upregulated cell cycle pathway proteins and patient survival was further investigated.
 Results: Upregulated genes mainly annotated to cell cycle, p53 signaling and oocyte meiosis and maturation pathways and cell cycle related GO-BP terms. Downregulated genes mostly annotated to adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, vascular smooth muscle contraction and cardiomyopathy related KEGG pathways and muscle related GO-BP terms. The protein products of six cell cycle genes, which were upregulated in bladder urothelial carcinoma, showed significant association with patient survival.
 Conclusion: The results of this study showed altered molecular mechanisms and increased our understanding in bladder urothelial carcinoma, proposed potential prognostic biomarkers.

Transcriptome profiling research in urothelial cell carcinoma

“…However, due to the false‐positive and false‐negative results, the use of these biomarkers has sparked clinical controversy [96]. Nonetheless, promising biomarkers such as the TERT promoter, genes differentially expressed in bladder cancer (including CDC20, PTTG1, PLK1, SFN, CCNB1, and BUB1B) [97], Sox4, and circular RNA (circRNA), including circHIPK3 and circACVR2A, have been explored. Among these genes, the TERT promoter accounted for 73% of alteration in NMBIC [98].…”