The effect of PPP2CA expression on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and its molecular biological characteristics

Abstract

Background: To investigate the role of the PPP2CA gene in the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its molecular biological characteristics. Methods: We performed comparison of the expression of PPP2CA in HCC and non-HCC tissues of HCC patients who underwent surgery for the first time in the Tumor Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from July 2017 to July 2019, and retrospectively analyzed the relevant clinical data and prognosis. The GSE76427 data set and bioinformatics and public databases were used to compare the expression of PPP2CA between HCC and non-cancer tissues. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was performed of PPP2CA and its differential genes and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of PPP2CA and its differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was constructed from the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) database and visualized by Cytoscape software. Results: The immunohistochemistry (IHC) of tissue sections confirmed that PPP2CA was highly expressed in most HCC tissues; the high expression of PPP2CA was significantly correlated with microvascular invasion (MVI) and portal vein tumor thrombi (P<0.05). Participants in the PPP2CA high expression group had worse overall survival (OS; P=0.04) and recurrence-free survival (RFS; P=0.019). The PPP2CA gene and 71 DEGs were mainly enriched in the nuclear division, organelle fission, nuclear chromosome separation, and chromatid separation process, and KEGG analysis revealed enrichment in drug metabolism-cytochrome metabolism of xenobiotics by P450 and cytochrome P450. Finally, through the PPI network, CCNA2, AURKB, TOP2A, NCAPG, MCM2, CDC20, CCMB2, AURKA, and MGST1 were identified as the top 9 highly connected hub genes. Conclusions:The PPP2CA gene is highly expressed in HCC tissues. The high expression of PPP2CA is significantly associated with poor prognosis. Through the analysis of DEGs, GO and KEGG pathway analysis, it was found that PPP2CA may act on liver cancer through multiple targets and multiple pathways, and PPP2CA plays a promoting role in HCC.

Identification of ASF1B as a prognostic marker for liver cancer by meta-analysis and its immune value revealed by a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of 33 human cancers

“…[ 23 ] found that DEAD-box helicase 3, X-linked (DDX3X) is associated with liver injury and liver tumour development through chromosome segregation. Regarding organelle fission, high expression of the PPP2CA gene in HCC tissue is significantly associated with poor prognosis of liver cancer patients, and the PPP2CA gene and related genes in the study are also enriched in organelle fission [ 24 ]. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the main pathways of differential genes are cell cycle, retinol metabolism, metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, and drug metabolism−cytochrome P450.…”

Multi-Omics Analysis Elucidates The Immune And Intratumor Microbes Characteristics Of Ubiquitination Subtypes In Lung Adenocarcinoma

“…Some studies have shown that RGS20 promotes the development of cancer by regulating the PI3K/AKT signal pathway in cancer cells [39] . The expression level of SAC3D1 [ 40 , 41 ], PPP2CA [ 42 , 43 ], PTTG1IP [44] genes is significantly increased in tumor cells and can be used as a cancer marker.…”

Nostoc commune Vauch. Polysaccharide alleviates Pb-induced hepatorenal toxicity by changing gut bacteriome, mycobiome, and metabolome

“…Chemical carcinogenesis of abnormal metabolic pathways has been linked to alcoholic liver disease, depression, and several cancers, including stomach cancer [111,112]. Significant differences in the metabolism of xenobiotics by the cytochrome P450 metabolic pathway were also observed in liver cancer, gastric cancer, and alcoholic liver injury [112,113]. These results suggest the potential regulatory functions of these metabolic pathways in the therapeutic mechanism of NCVP on Pb-induced hepatorenal toxicity in mice.…”