Identification of ATG7 as a Regulator of Proferroptosis and Oxidative Stress in Osteosarcoma

Abstract

Background. Ferroptosis has gained significant attention from oncologists as a vital outcome of oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to develop a prognostic signature that was based on the ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) for osteosarcoma patients and explore their specific role in osteosarcoma. Methods. The training cohort dataset was extracted from the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) database. Different techniques like the univariate Cox regression, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, multivariate Cox regression analyses, and the Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival analyses were utilized to develop a prognostic signature. Then, the intrinsic relationship between the developed gene signature and the infiltration levels of the immune cells was further investigated. An external validation dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was employed to assess the predictive ability of the developed gene signature. Subsequently, the specific function of potential FRG in affecting the oxidative stress reaction and ferroptosis of osteosarcoma cells was identified. Results. A prognostic signature based on 5 FRGs (CBS, MUC1, ATG7, SOCS1, and PEBP1) was developed, and the patients were classified into the low- and high-risk groups (categories). High-risk patients displayed poor overall survival outcomes. The risk level was seen to be an independent risk factor for determining the prognosis of osteosarcoma patients ( p < 0.001 , hazard ratio: 7.457, 95% CI: 3.302-16.837). Additionally, the risk level was associated with immune function, which might affect the survival status of osteosarcoma patients. Moreover, the findings of the study indicated that the expression of ATG7 was related to the regulation of oxidative stress in osteosarcoma. Silencing the ATG7 gene promoted the proliferation and migration in osteosarcoma cells, suppressing the oxidative stress and ferroptosis process. Conclusions. A novel FRG signature was developed in this study to predict the prognosis of osteosarcoma patients. The results indicated that ATG7 might regulate the process of oxidative stress and ferroptosis in osteosarcoma cells and could be used as a potential target to develop therapeutic strategies for treating osteosarcoma.

Epigallocatechin gallate modulates ferroptosis through downregulation of tsRNA-13502 in non-small cell lung cancer

“…Similarly, the intersection of upregulated tsRNA target genes with ferroptosis-suppressing genes yielded 19 genes involved in inhibiting ferroptosis. Among these targets, we focused on well-established pro-ferroptotic genes such as ATF3 [ 36 ], ATG7 [ 37 ], TP53 [ 38 ], and NOX4 [ 39 ], which are targeted by 20 downregulated tsRNAs. From these 20 candidate tsRNAs, we selected 6 with the greatest differential expression and highest overall expression levels for further validation.…”

Metabolism and senescence in the immune microenvironment of osteosarcoma: focus on new therapeutic strategies

“…These ROS can lead to impaired immune cell function by directly oxidizing key proteins within the immune cells. In addition, ROS can also inhibit the immune effects of immune cells by regulating their signaling pathways and transcription factor activity ( 68 – 71 ).…”

Targeting Ferroptosis in Bone-Related Diseases: Facts and Perspectives

“…Some studies have identified several genes associated with OS ferroptosis by bioinformatics analysis, which may provide research directions for this purpose (Figure 3). [171][172][173][174][175]…”