Functional analysis of the mRNA profile of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin overexpression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma using multiple bioinformatic tools

Abstract

Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is a member of the lipocalin superfamily; dysregulated expression of NGAL has been observed in several benign and malignant diseases. In the present study, differentially expressed genes, in comparison with those of control cells, in the mRNA expression profile of EC109 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells following NGAL overexpression were analyzed by multiple bioinformatic tools for a comprehensive understanding. A total of 29 gene ontology (GO) terms associated with immune function, chromatin structure and gene transcription were identified among the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in NGAL overexpressing cells. In addition to the detected GO categories, the results from the functional annotation chart revealed that the differentially expressed genes were also associated with 101 functional annotation category terms. A total of 59 subpathways associated locally with the differentially expressed genes were identified by subpathway analysis, a markedly greater total that detected by traditional pathway enrichment analysis only. Promoter analysis indicated that the potential transcription factors Snail, deltaEF1, Mycn, Arnt, MNB1A, PBF, E74A, Ubx, SPI1 and GATA2 were unique to the downregulated DEG promoters, while bZIP910, ZNF42 and SOX9 were unique for the upregulated DEG promoters. In conclusion, the understanding of the role of NGAL overexpression in ESCC has been improved through the present bioinformatic analysis.

Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC): Advances through omics technologies, towards ESCC salivaomics

“…The 24 paired samples come either from the tumour area with more than 80% of tumour cells, or from normal tissue at least 4 cm away from the affected zone. An interesting option for microarray analysis in ESCC, has been the comparison of tumour cells with cell lines overexpressing an important gene for tumour progression (66), or a different splice variant (67), as it can aid to clear many questions about the development of the disease. Both of these studies have been carried out in the same laboratory, and show the potential of transcriptomics, as well as other type of complementary technologies, to address fundamental questions in molecular biology being an alternative for obtaining a higher resolution profile than classic approaches.…”

Correlation between urinary biomarker and organ failure in patients with sepsis and patients after esophagectomy: a prospective observational study

“…Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a 25 kDa protein of the lipocalin family, is a diagnostic marker for acute kidney injury (AKI) [1][2][3]. NGAL expression is highly induced not only in kidney injury [4,5] but also bacterial infection, inflammation, and cancer [6][7][8][9]. The factors regulating NGAL expression are proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukins, tumor necrosis factor-α and interferons [7].…”

“…Therefore, open esophagectomy has a higher risk of intraoperative and postoperative complications. Although NGAL is highly expressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma [8,9], there are no reports of uNGAL levels after open esophagectomy. In addition, NGAL is released from the lung, bronchi, and esophagus [7].…”