Identification of Critical Pathways and Potential Key Genes in Poorly Differentiated Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

作者：Yuanxiang Lu, Dongxiao Li, Ge Liu, Erwei Xiao, Senmao Mu, Yujin Pan, Fangyuan Qin, Yaping Zhai, Shaofeng Duan, Deyu Li, Guoyi Yan · 发表于：OncoTargets and Therapy · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.2147/ott.s279287 · 被引用次数：14 · 研究领域：Pancreatic and Hepatic Oncology Research、Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis、FOXO transcription factor regulation

Introduction: The poorly differentiated pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an extremely lethal neoplasm without effective biomarkers for early detection and prognosis prediction, which is characteristically unresponsive to chemotherapeutic regimens. This study aims at searching for key genes which could be applied as novel prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in PDAC. Methods: Clinical samples were collected and a comprehensive differential analysis of seven PDAC samples by integrating RNA-seq data of tumor tissues and matched normal tissues from both our cohort and gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA) were performed to discover potential prognostic genes in PDAC. Pathway enrichment analysis was carried out to determine the biological function of PDAC differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed for functional modules analysis. Real-time PCR was performed to validate expression of hub genes. Results: A total of 126 PDAC-specific expressed genes identified from seven PDAC samples were predominantly enriched in cell adhesion, integral component of membrane, signal transduction and chemical carcinogenesis, IL-17 signaling pathway, indicating that obtained genes might play a unique role in PDAC tumorigenesis. Furthermore, survival analysis revealed that five genes ( CEACAM5 , KRT6A , KRT6B , KRT7 , KRT17 ) which exhibited high expression levels in tumor tissues were obviously correlated with the p...