Exploring the mechanism of LncRNA CASC15 affecting hepatocellular carcinoma through miRNA.

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This study aimed to determine the potential mechanisms through which long noncoding (Lnc) RNA cancer susceptibility candidate 15 (CASC15) affects hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We retrieved HCC RNA-seq and clinical information from the UCSC Xena database. The differential expression (DE) of CASC15 was detected. Overall survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier (K-M) curves. Molecular function and signaling pathways affected by CASC15 were determined using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. Associations between CASC15 and the HCC microenvironment were investigated using immuno-infiltration assays. A differential CASC15-miRNA-mRNA network and HCC-specific CASC15-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network were constructed. The overexpression of CASC15 in HCC tissues was associated with histological grade, clinical stage, pathological T stage, poor survival, more complex immune cell components, and 12 immune checkpoints. We identified 27 DE miRNAs and 270 DE mRNAs in the differential CASC15-miRNA-mRNA network, and 10 key genes that were enriched in 12 cancer-related signaling pathways. Extraction of the HCC-specific CASC15-miRNA-mRNA network revealed that IGF1R, MET, and KRAS were associated with HCC progression and occurrence. Our bioinformatic findings confirmed that CASC15 is a promising prognostic biomarker for HCC, and elevated levels in HCC are associated with the tumor microenvironment. We also constructed a disease-specific CASC15-miRNA-mRNA regulatory ceRNA network that provides a new perspective for the precise indexing of patients with elevated levels of CASC15.