{"title":"<i>SOX11</i> as a potential prognostic biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma linked to immune infiltration and ferroptosis.","authors":"Hongyu Chen, Qiangguo Ao, Yueling Wang, Yue Qian, Qingli Cheng, Wei Zhang","doi":"10.21147/j.issn.1000-9604.2024.04.03","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong><i>SOX11</i> is expressed in numerous malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), but its oncogenic function has not been elucidated. Here, we performed a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of the Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma (LIHC) dataset to investigate the function of <i>SOX11</i> in tumorgenesis.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong><i>SOX11</i> expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Co-expression, differential expression, and functional analyses utilized TCGA-LIHC, Timer 2.0, Metascape, GTEx, and LinkedOmics databases. Associations with immune infiltration, ferroptosis, and immune checkpoint genes were assessed. Genetic changes were explored via CBioPortal. Logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), Kaplan-Meier analysis, and nomogram modeling evaluated associations with HCC clinicopathological features. <i>SOX11</i>'s impact on proliferation and migration was studied in HepG2 and HuH7 cell lines.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong><i>SOX11</i> was significantly elevated in HCC tumors compared to controls. <i>SOX11</i>-associated genes exhibited differential expression in pathways involving extracellular membrane ion channels. Significant associations were found between <i>SOX11</i> levels, immune infiltration, ferroptosis, and immune checkpoint genes in HCC tissue. <i>SOX11</i> levels correlated with HCC stage, histologic grade, and tumor status, and independently predicted overall and disease-specific survival. <i>SOX11</i> expression effectively distinguished between tumor and normal liver tissue. Spearman correlations highlighted a significant relationship between <i>SOX11</i> and ferroptosis-associated genes. Decreased <i>SOX11</i> levels in HepG2 and HuH7 cells resulted in reduced proliferation and migration.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong><i>SOX11</i> was found to represent a promising biomarker within HCC diagnosis and prognosis together with being a possible drug-target.</p>","PeriodicalId":9882,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Cancer Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11377886/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Chinese Journal of Cancer Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.21147/j.issn.1000-9604.2024.04.03","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ONCOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: SOX11 is expressed in numerous malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), but its oncogenic function has not been elucidated. Here, we performed a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of the Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma (LIHC) dataset to investigate the function of SOX11 in tumorgenesis.
Methods: SOX11 expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Co-expression, differential expression, and functional analyses utilized TCGA-LIHC, Timer 2.0, Metascape, GTEx, and LinkedOmics databases. Associations with immune infiltration, ferroptosis, and immune checkpoint genes were assessed. Genetic changes were explored via CBioPortal. Logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), Kaplan-Meier analysis, and nomogram modeling evaluated associations with HCC clinicopathological features. SOX11's impact on proliferation and migration was studied in HepG2 and HuH7 cell lines.
Results: SOX11 was significantly elevated in HCC tumors compared to controls. SOX11-associated genes exhibited differential expression in pathways involving extracellular membrane ion channels. Significant associations were found between SOX11 levels, immune infiltration, ferroptosis, and immune checkpoint genes in HCC tissue. SOX11 levels correlated with HCC stage, histologic grade, and tumor status, and independently predicted overall and disease-specific survival. SOX11 expression effectively distinguished between tumor and normal liver tissue. Spearman correlations highlighted a significant relationship between SOX11 and ferroptosis-associated genes. Decreased SOX11 levels in HepG2 and HuH7 cells resulted in reduced proliferation and migration.
Conclusions: SOX11 was found to represent a promising biomarker within HCC diagnosis and prognosis together with being a possible drug-target.
期刊介绍:
Chinese Journal of Cancer Research (CJCR; Print ISSN: 1000-9604; Online ISSN:1993-0631) is published by AME Publishing Company in association with Chinese Anti-Cancer Association.It was launched in March 1995 as a quarterly publication and is now published bi-monthly since February 2013.
CJCR is published bi-monthly in English, and is an international journal devoted to the life sciences and medical sciences. It publishes peer-reviewed original articles of basic investigations and clinical observations, reviews and brief communications providing a forum for the recent experimental and clinical advances in cancer research. This journal is indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), PubMed/PubMed Central (PMC), Scopus, SciSearch, Chemistry Abstracts (CA), the Excerpta Medica/EMBASE, Chinainfo, CNKI, CSCI, etc.