Abstract
BackgroundAccumulating evidence implies that autophagy plays a critical role in breast cancer development and progression. It is crucial to screen out autophagy-related encoding genes (ARGs) with prognostic value in breast cancer and reveal their biological properties in the aggressiveness of breast cancer.MethodsUnivariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to identify a prognostic risk model of ARGs from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Kaplan–Meier analysis, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to validate the risk model. Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were conducted to assess the expression of VPS35 (one of ARGs in risk model). CCK8, Colony formation assay, Transwell migration/invasion assays and autophagy flux assay were used to confirm biological function of VPS35 in breast cancer.ResultsIn this study, the prognostic risk model consisting of six ARGs (VPS35, TRIM21, PRKAB2, RUFY4, MAP1LC3A and LARP1) in breast cancer were identified. The risk model was further verified as a novel independent prognostic factor for breast cancer patients. We also clarified that vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 35 (VPS35), one of ARGs in the risk model, was upregulated in breast cancer samples and cell lines. VPS35 overexpression was correlated with more aggressive phenotype of breast cancer and indicated worse prognosis in both progression-free survival and overall survival analyses. Meanwhile, VPS35 knockdown inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion, suggesting that VPS35 promoted the progression of breast cancer. VPS35 silence also influenced autophagy process, indicating that VPS35 was essential for autophagy completion.ConclusionTaken together, the six ARGs risk model has a remarkably prognostic value for breast cancer. Among them, VPS35 might exert as a significant oncogenic and prognostic factor for breast cancer and could be a promising autophagy-related therapeutic target in clinical practice.
Highlights
Accumulating evidence implies that autophagy plays a critical role in breast cancer development and progression
The heatmap displayed that vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 35 (VPS35), PRKAB2 and LARP1 were highly expressed in the high-risk group, while TRIM21, RUFY4 and MAP1LC3A were upregulated in the low-risk group (Fig. 2d)
In conclusion, we identified a novel autophagy-related prognostic risk model consisting of six encoding gene (VPS35, TRIM21, PRKAB2, RUFY4, MAP1LC3A and LARP1) in breast cancer
Summary
Accumulating evidence implies that autophagy plays a critical role in breast cancer development and progression. It is crucial to screen out autophagy-related encoding genes (ARGs) with prognostic value in breast cancer and reveal their biological properties in the aggressiveness of breast cancer. Exploring potential prognostic biomarkers and promising specific targets is considered to be a crucial step to achieve this process. During the past few years, accumulating evidences have suggested that autophagy is involved in breast cancer development and aggressiveness [9, 10]. More and more researches have indicated that autophagy-related encoding genes influence cancer progression and survival prognosis [11,12,13]. Identifying essential autophagy-related encoding genes (ARGs) closely associated with prognosis in breast cancer is of great significance for both theoretical foundation and clinical guidance
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