Mutation and Copy Number Alterations Analysis of KIF23 in Glioma

Unravelling hub genes as potential therapeutic targets in lung cancer using integrated transcriptomic meta-analysis and in silico approach

Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Smoking has been identified as the main contributing cause of the disease's development. The study aimed to identify the key genes in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the two major types of LC. Meta-analysis was performed with two datasets GSE74706 and GSE149507 obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Both the datasets comprised samples from cancerous and adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Initially, 633 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. To understand the underlying molecular mechanism of the identified genes, pathway enrichment, gene ontology (GO) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses were done. A total of 9 hub genes were identified which were subjected to mutation study analysis in LC patients using cBioPortal. These   9 genes (i.e. AURKA, AURKB, KIF23, RACGAP1, KIF2C, KIF20A, CENPE, TPX2 and PRC1) have shown overexpression in LC patients and can be explored as potential candidates for prognostic biomarkers. TPX2 reported a maximum mutation of 4 % . This was followed with high throughput screening and docking analysis to identify the potential drug candidates following competitive inhibition of the AURKA-TPX2 complex. Four compounds, CHEMBL431482, CHEMBL2263042, CHEMBL2385714, and CHEMBL1206617 were identified. The results signify that the selected 9 genes can be explored as biomarkers in disease prognosis and targeted therapy. Also, the identified 4 compounds can be further analyzed as promising therapeutic candidates.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Comprehensive analysis of the prognostic and immunological signature of eight Tripartitemotif (TRIM) family molecules in human gliomas

BACKGROUND

TRIM family molecules have been identified as being involved in the tumor progression of various cancer types. Increasingly, experimental evidence indicates that some of TRIM family molecules are implicated in glioma tumorigenesis. However, the diverse genomic changes, prognostic values and immunological landscapes of TRIM family of molecules have yet to be fully determined in glioma.

METHODS

In our study, employing the comprehensive bioinformatics tools, we evaluated the unique functions of 8 TRIM members including TRIM5/17/21/22/24/28/34/47 in gliomas.

RESULTS

The expression levels of 7 TRIM members (TRIM5/21/22/24/28/34/47) were higher in glioma as well as its diverse cancer subtypes than in normal tissues, whereas the expression level of TRIM17 was the opposite, lower in the former than in the latter. In addition, survival analysis revealed that the high expression profiles of TRIM5/21/22/24/28/34/47 were associated with poor overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and progress-free interval (PFI) in glioma patients, whereas TRIM17 displayed adverse outcomes. Moreover, the 8 TRIM molecules expression as well as methylation profiles remarkably correlated with different WHO grades. And genetic alterations, including mutations and copy number alterations (CNAs), in the TRIM family were correlated with longer OS, DSS and progress-free survival (PFS) in glioma patients. Furthermore, through Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis results of these 8 molecules and their related genes, we found that these molecules may change the immune infiltration of the tumor microenvironment and regulate the expression of immune checkpoint molecules (ICMs), affecting the occurrence and development of gliomas. The correlation analyses between the 8 TRIM molecules and TMB (tumor mutational burden)/MSI (microsatellite instability)/ICMs discovered that as the expression level of TRIM5/21/22/24/28/34/47 increased, the TMB score also increased significantly, while TRIM17 showed an opposite outcome. Further, a 6-gene signature (TRIM 5/17/21/28/34/47) for predicting overall survival (OS) in gliomas was built by using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, and the survival and time-dependent ROC analyses all were found to perform well in testing and validation cohorts. Results of multivariate COX regression analysis showed that TRIM5/28 are both expected to become independent risk predictors to guide clinical treatment.

CONCLUSION

In general, the results indicate that TRIM5/17/21/22/24/28/34/47 might exert a crucial influence on gliomas tumorigenesis and might be putative prognostic markers and therapeutic targets for glioma patients.

Systematic Pan-Cancer Analysis of KIF23 and a Prediction Model Based on KIF23 in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (ccRCC)

Purpose

This study aims to carry out a pan-cancer analysis of kinesin family member 23 (KIF23) and construct a predictive model for the prognosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients.

Methods

We evaluated the differential expression of KIF23 in pan-cancer by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Oncomine database. Then, the correlation between KIF23 with prognosis, clinical grade, stage, immune subtype, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI) and immune microenvironment was explored by TCGA, an integrated repository portal for tumor-immune system interactions (TISIDB) and cBioPortal. Subsequently, we screened out ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) related to KIF23 and constructed a risk score model. Univariate Cox analysis was used to determine independent prognostic factors for ccRCC overall survival (OS), and a nomogram was established. Furthermore, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was applied to study the biological functions and pathways of KIF23. Finally, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was carried out to evaluate the expression of KIF23.

Results

KIF23 was highly expressed in most tumors. Further, KIF23 was strongly correlated with prognosis, clinical grade, stage, immune subtype, TMB, MSI and immune microenvironment in different tumors. We found that KIF23 was significantly associated with all aspects of ccRCC. Then, 8 FRGs were identified to construct a risk score model together with KIF23. And a prognostic nomogram prediction model of OS was established. After GSEA analysis, cell cycle, condensed chromosome and other physiological processes were screened out. Finally, qRT-PCR verified the high expression of KIF23 in ccRCC cell lines than normal kidney cell line.

Conclusion

KIF23 may act as a pivotal part in occurrence and progression of different tumors. In ccRCC, KIF23 can be a great prognostic biomarker, and the nomogram based on KIF23 may contribute to better treatment plans for ccRCC patients.

Kinesin family member 23 exerts a protumor function in breast cancer via stimulation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Kinesin family member 23 (KIF23) has been described as one of the main genes that are associated with malignant transformation in numerous cancers. However, the exact significance of KIF23 in breast cancer has not been well-addressed. The present study was dedicated to the comprehensive investigation of KIF23 in breast cancer. Initial expression analysis through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) demonstrated high KIF23 levels in breast cancer compared with normal controls. These in silico data showing high levels of KIF23 in breast cancer were verified by assessing clinical specimens using real-time quantitative PCR and immunoblot assays. Moreover, a high KIF23 level was correlated with adverse clinical outcomes in breast cancer patients. Cellular functional experiments showed that the down-regulation of KIF23 affected the malignant behaviors of breast cancer cells in vitro, whereas the forced expression of KIF23 stimulated them. Mechanistic studies revealed that KIF23 restraint down-regulated the levels of phosphorylated glycogen synthetase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), β-catenin, cyclin D1 and c-myc in breast cancer cells, showing an inhibitory effect on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. The suppression of GSK-3β was able to reverse KIF23-silencing-induced inactivation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway abolished KIF23 overexpression-mediated protumor effects in breast cancer. A xenograft assay confirmed the in vivo antitumor function of KIF23 inhibition. In conclusion, these findings suggest that KIF23 may exert a protumor function in breast cancer by stimulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. This work suggests that KIF23 has potential values for targeted therapy and prognosis in breast cancer.