Abstract
Background
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is a common modification and plays an important role in various biological processes, but m6A-related lncRNA functions in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been systematically clarified.
Methods
The clinical data and RNA-seq transcriptome of 375 cases of HCC and 50 cases of normal tissues were obtained from the Cancer Gene Atlas database. Co-expression analysis was used to obtain m6A-related lncRNA. The independent prognostic factors were identified by univariate and multivariate Cox regression models. Kaplan–Meier method was used in survival analysis. The core gene of the mRNA–mRNA interaction network is related to m6A-related lncRNAs obtained by the CytoHubba plugin of Cytoscape. Gene ontology and Kyoto Gene Encyclopedia were analyzed to find out the potential mechanism. CIBERSORT algorithm was used to calculate the relative proportion of immune infiltrating cells.
Results
We identified two subgroups (cluster 1 and cluster 2) according to the expression level. The survival analysis curve and receiver operating characteristic curve proved that this model could predict the prognosis of HCC patients. The univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed the independent prognostic value. UBE2C was screened as the pivotal gene. The expression level of m6A-related lncRNAs causes changes in the tumor immune microenvironment.
Conclusion
The expression levels of m6A-related lncRNAs were significantly different and the prognostic value of m6A-related lncRNAs was confirmed. The m6A-related lncRNAs are expected to be prognostic signatures in HCC.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during the current study are available in the TCGA repository https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov/.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to Muqi Li and Liangzhen Xie for assisting in the modification of the data analysis program.
Funding
This work was supported by Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant number 2022A1515012392).
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KH, Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing Reviewing and Editing. JL: Investigation, Writing Reviewing and Editing. YZ, Writing Reviewing and Editing. JF, Formal analysis. XL: Conceptualization, Methodology. WZ, Data curation. YT: Data curation. XC, Investigation, Resources. JX, Investigation, Resources. XH, Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing Reviewing and Editing.
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The data are all from the public database TCGA, which does not involve ethical issues.
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Hao, K., Li, J., Zhang, Y. et al. Expression and prognostic signatures of m6A-related lncRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 149, 4429–4441 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-022-04338-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-022-04338-x