PAMR1 is a favorable diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Peptidase domain containing associated with muscle regeneration 1 (PAMR1) is downregulated in breast cancer and cervical cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the role of PAMR1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explore the underlying molecular mechanisms. Base on the analysis of datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a lower mRNA level of PAMR1 was detected in HCC compared that in normal liver tissues. The result was also confirmed by the experiment with immunohistochemistry (IHC), and qRT-PCR. The area under the curve(AUC) was 0.918 through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that lower PAMR1 expression predicted prognostic outcome. Then, the genes closely associated with PAMR1 were screened and enriched by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, showing their role on extracellular matrix organization, cell adhesion, and blood vessel development. Moreover, PAMR1 expression was positively correlated with immune cells infiltration. In addition, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) showed that the downregulated genes in the low-PAMR1 subgroup were significantly enriched in an inflammatory response, hypoxia, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, KRAS signaling, and TNF-α signaling via NF-κB signaling pathway. Collectively, PAMR1 shows lower level in HCC,and represents a favorable diagnostic and prognostic factor for HCC.