EFNA3 is involved in Immune Regulation and the Ras Signal Pathway in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common disease. Multitarget therapy has been considered to be effective. EphrinA3 (EFNA3) ligand has been proven to be related to many cancers but is rarely reported in HCC. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance and mechanism of EFNA3 in HCC. EFNA3 ligand has been related to many cancers. By analyzing data from the gene expression omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases with R software, EFNA3 was found highly expressed in patients with HCC, and the group with higher EFNA3 expression in patients with HCC had a significantly poorer prognosis. EFNA3 expression was of high diagnostic value and can be an independent clinical prognostic factor in HCC according to the COX regression and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Anomalies in the EFNA3 gene suggested a poor prognosis in patients with HCC analyzed by cBioPortal. The expression of EFNA3 was positively correlated with the infiltration of immune cells and two immune checkpoints. The function of EFNA3 and its related genes has been linked to the Ras signal pathway and affected the development of HCC. Based on exploring the clinical value of EFNA3, this study used the bioinformatics method to reveal the role of EFNA3 in immune regulation and its possible mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma.