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Cancer Cell International
Published in: Cancer Cell International 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Primary research

Identification of hub genes and therapeutic drugs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma based on integrated bioinformatics strategy

Authors: Wanli Yang, Xinhui Zhao, Yu Han, Lili Duan, Xin Lu, Xiaoqian Wang, Yujie Zhang, Wei Zhou, Jinqiang Liu, Hongwei Zhang, Qingchuan Zhao, Liu Hong, Daiming Fan

Published in: Cancer Cell International | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of leading malignant cancers of gastrointestinal tract worldwide. Until now, the involved mechanisms during the development of ESCC are largely unknown. This study aims to explore the driven-genes and biological pathways in ESCC.

Methods

mRNA expression datasets of GSE29001, GSE20347, GSE100942, and GSE38129, containing 63 pairs of ESCC and non-tumor tissues data, were integrated and deeply analyzed. The bioinformatics approaches include identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and hub genes, gene ontology (GO) terms analysis and biological pathway enrichment analysis, construction and analysis of protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, and miRNA–gene network construction. Subsequently, GEPIA2 database and qPCR assay were utilized to validate the expression of hub genes. DGIdb database was performed to search the candidate drugs for ESCC.

Results

Finally, 120 upregulated and 26 downregulated DEGs were identified. The functional enrichment of DEGs in ESCC were mainly correlated with cell cycle, DNA replication, deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) mediated attractive signaling pathway, and Netrin-1 signaling pathway. The PPI network was constructed using STRING software with 146 nodes and 2392 edges. The most significant three modules in PPI were filtered and analyzed. Totally ten genes were selected and considered as the hub genes and nuclear division cycle 80 (NDC80) was closely related to the survival of ESCC patients. DGIdb database predicted 33 small molecules as the possible drugs for treating ESCC.

Conclusions

In summary, the data may provide new insights into ESCC pathogenesis and treatments. The candidate drugs may improve the efficiency of personalized therapy in future.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Identification of hub genes and therapeutic drugs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma based on integrated bioinformatics strategy
Authors
Wanli Yang
Xinhui Zhao
Yu Han
Lili Duan
Xin Lu
Xiaoqian Wang
Yujie Zhang
Wei Zhou
Jinqiang Liu
Hongwei Zhang
Qingchuan Zhao
Liu Hong
Daiming Fan
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Cancer Cell International / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1475-2867
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12935-019-0854-6

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