IMR Press / FBL / Volume 28 / Issue 10 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2810271
Open Access Original Research
The EMT-Related Genes GALNT3 and OAS1 are Associated with Immune Cell Infiltration and Poor Prognosis in Lung Adenocarcinoma
Dan Luo1,2,3,†Mengying Fang2,3,†Le Shao4,†Jue Wang1,†Yuling Liang2,3Mengqin Chen2,3Xuemei Gui2,3Jie Yan2,3Wenjun Wang2,3Lili Yu1,*Xianming Fan2,3,*Qibiao Wu1,5,*
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1 Faculty of Chinese Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, 999078 Macao, China
2 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, 646099 Luzhou, Sichuan, China
3 Inflammation & Allergic Diseases Research Unit, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, 646099 Luzhou, Sichuan, China
4 Center for Medical Research and Innovation, the First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, 410021 Changsha, Hunan, China
5 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong University of Technology, 510520 Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
*Correspondence: llyu@must.edu.mo (Lili Yu); fxm129@163.com (Xianming Fan); qbwu@must.edu.mo (Qibiao Wu)
These authors contributed equally.
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2023, 28(10), 271; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2810271
Submitted: 8 December 2022 | Revised: 10 February 2023 | Accepted: 20 February 2023 | Published: 27 October 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights against Cancer Progression and Metastasis)
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Lung cancer is the main cause of cancer-related death, with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) playing an important role in the development of this disease. The EMT-related genes Polypeptide N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 3 (GALNT3) and 2-5-Oligoadenylate Synthetase 1 (OAS1) are involved in numerous tumor processes. Although these genes have been extensively studied in cancer, they have yet to be analyzed by multi-omics in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods: EMT-related genes were identified by R and Venn diagram. Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis were performed to evaluate patient survival, and the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) database was used for correlation analysis. GeneCards and R packages were used to explore gene characterization and functional annotation. The Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER), Human Protein Atlas (HPA), University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer (UALCAN), and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases were used to investigate gene expression, which was then confirmed by RT-PCR. Clinicopathological analysis was carried out using the UALCAN database. Functional mechanisms and multi-omics analysis were performed using DNA Methylation Interactive Visualization Database (DNMIVD), Targetscan, TIMER, Tumor–immune System Interactions Database (TISIDB) and cBioportal. Diagnostic values were calculated using ROC curve analysis. Results: A total of 320 EMT-related genes were identified in LUAD. Their characteristics were confirmed in the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) database by the intersection of 855 and 3600 different genes from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and EMTome databases, respectively. Expression of the EMT-related genes GALNT3 and OAS1 was associated with the prognosis of LUAD patients. A positive correlation was observed between the expression of GALNT3 and OAS1, and their expression was higher in LUAD tissue than in normal lung tissue. This was confirmed using RT-PCR. Multi-omics analysis revealed that GALNT3 and OAS1 expression was associated with gene mutation and methylation, cellular immune infiltration, and several immune subtypes. A miRNA-GALNT3/OAS1 regulatory network was also found. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis found that GALNT3 and OAS1 expression combined had superior diagnostic value to that of each marker alone. Conclusions: GALNT3 and OAS1 expression are associated with immune cell infiltration and poor prognosis in LUAD. Their combined expression has high diagnostic value; hence, GALNT3 and OAS1 may be valuable biomarkers for the early detection of LUAD.

Keywords
lung adenocarcinoma
EMT
immune infiltration
prognosis
GALNT3
OAS1
Funding
2021ZKQN095/Southwest Medical University School-level Scientific Research Project
0098/2021/A2/Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR
130/2017/A3/Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR
0099/2018/A3/Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR
2020B1212030008/Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province
2022NSFSC0046/Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province
2022YFS0631/Sichuan Science and Technology Program
Figures
Fig. 1.
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