Identification of ferroptosis‐related genes as potential biomarkers of tongue squamous cell carcinoma using an integrated bioinformatics approach. Issue 2 (24th December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhu, Haisheng; Tao, Yuzhi; Huang, Qingwen; Chen, Zhuoming; Jiang, Liujun; Yan, Haolin; Zhong, Jinghua; Liang, Leifeng
• Is Part Of: FEBS open bio. Volume 12:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 412
• Page End: 429
• Publication Date: 2021-12-24
• Subjects: bioinformatics analysis -- CA9 -- ferroptosis -- prognosis -- tongue squamous cell carcinoma; Molecular biology -- Periodicals; Cytology -- Periodicals; Life sciences -- Periodicals; Biological Science Disciplines -- Periodicals; Molecular Biology -- Periodicals; Cell Biology -- Periodicals; Cytology; Life sciences; Molecular biology; Periodicals; 572.805
• DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.13348
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2211-5463

Abstract

Abstract : Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is one of the deadliest cancers of the head and neck, but the role of the ferroptosis pathway in its development is still unknown. In this study we explored the pathogenetic mechanisms associated with ferroptosis in TSCC. We identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of TSCC patients and used gene ontology (GO), the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to annotate, visualize, and integrate these DEGs. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed, and the STRING database was used to construct a protein–protein interaction network to evaluate the predictive value of ferroptosis‐related DEGs. A total of 219 DEGs were identified and GO, KEGG, and GSEA showed that extracellular matrix (ECM)‐receptor interaction and interleukin (IL)‐17 signaling pathways were substantially upregulated in TSCC. Univariate Cox analysis revealed that high expression of CA9, TNFAIP3, and NRAS were predictive of a worse outcome. We then constructed a prognostic model that predicted survival in the validation cohort at 1 year and 32 months. Finally, 60 cases of tongue carcinoma and normal tissues were collected, and immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of CA9 . We found that CA9 was strongly expressed in tongue carcinoma tissues and absent in adjacent tissues. Overall, we found that ferroptosis‐related genes may affect TSCC prognosis through the ECM‐receptor interaction and IL‐17 signaling pathways. Additionally, immunohistochemistry confirmed that CA9 was highly expressed in tongue carcinoma tissues, and a model based on ferroptosis‐related genes showed a good ability to predict overall survival in TSCC. Abstract : Here we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) patients and intersected them with ferroptosis‐related genes. Ferroptosis‐related genes may affect TSCC prognosis through the ECM‐receptor interaction and IL‐17 signaling pathways. We constructed a prognostic model based on a subset of the ferroptosis‐related genes and confirmed that one of these genes, CA9, is highly expressed in tongue carcinoma tissues.