Investigation of the underlying hub genes and molecular pathogenesis in gastric cancer by integrated bioinformatic analyses

Abstract

The high mortality rate of gastric cancer (GC) is in part due to the absence of initial disclosure of its biomarkers. The recognition of important genes associated in GC is therefore recommended to advance clinical prognosis, diagnosis and and treatment outcomes. The current investigation used the microarray dataset GSE113255 RNA seq data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database to diagnose differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Pathway and gene ontology enrichment analyses were performed, and a protein protein interaction network, modules, target genes - miRNA regulatory network and target genes - TF regulatory network were constructed and analyzed. Finally, validation of hub genes was performed. The 1008 DEGs identified consisted of 505 up regulated genes and 503 down regulated genes. The pathways and GO functions of the up and down regulated genes were mainly enriched in pyrimidine deoxyribonucleosides degradation, extracellular structure organization, allopregnanolone biosynthesis and digestion. FN1, PLK1, ANLN, MCM7, MCM2, EEF1A2, PTGER3, CKB, ERBB4 and PRKAA2 were identified as the most important genes of GC, and validated by TCGA database, The Human Protein Atlas database, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis and RT-PCR. Bioinformatics analysis might be useful method to explore the molecular pathogensis of GC. In addition, FN1, PLK1, ANLN, MCM7, MCM2, EEF1A2, PTGER3, CKB, ERBB4 and PRKAA2 might be the most important genes of GC.