Abstract
BackgroundPapillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid cancer (TC), accounting for more than 80% of all cases. Ferroptosis is a novel iron-dependent and Reactive oxygen species (ROS) reliant type of cell death which is distinct from the apoptosis, necroptosis and pyroptosis. Considerable studies have demonstrated that ferroptosis is involved in the biological process of various cancers. However, the role of ferroptosis in PTC remains unclear. This study aims at exploring the expression of ferroptosis-related genes (FRG) and their prognostic values in PTC.MethodsA ferroptosis-related gene signature was constructed using lasso regression analysis through the PTC datasets of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed to investigate the bioinformatics functions of significantly different genes (SDG) of ferroptosis. Additionally, the correlations of ferroptosis and immune cells were assessed through the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and CIBERSORT database. Finally, SDG were test in clinical PTC specimens and normal thyroid tissues.ResultsLASSO regression model was utilized to establish a novel FRG signature with 10 genes (ANGPTL7, CDKN2A, DPP4, DRD4, ISCU, PGD, SRXN1, TF, TFRC, TXNRD1) to predicts the prognosis of PTC, and the patients were separated into high-risk and low-risk groups by the risk score. The high-risk group had poorer survival than the low-risk group (p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis confirmed the signature's predictive capacity. Multivariate regression analysis identified the prognostic signature-based risk score was an independent prognostic indicator for PTC. The functional roles of the DEGs in the TGCA PTC cohort were explored using GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analyses. Immune related analysis demonstrated that the most types of immune cells and immunological function in the high-risk group were significant different with those in the low-risk group. Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) verified the SDG have differences in expression between tumor tissue and normal thyroid tissue. In addition, cell experiments were conducted to observe the changes in cell morphology and expression of signature’s genes with the influence of ferroptosis induced by sorafenib.ConclusionsWe identified differently expressed FRG that may involve in PTC. A ferroptosis-related gene signature has significant values in predicting the patients’ prognoses and targeting ferroptosis may be an alternative for PTC’s therapy.
Highlights
Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common malignant endocrine tumor and its incidence has steadily increased in many countries over the past several decades [1, 2]
The Identification of 15 differentially expressed prognostic ferroptosis-related genes (FRG) Most of the FRGs (176/259, 68.0%) were differentially expressed between tumor and adjacent normal tissue, and 15 of them were correlated with overall survival (OS) in the univariate Cox regression analysis (Fig. 1A, B)
Establishment of a 10‐FRGs signature predicting the prognosis of Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) Lasso Cox regression analysis was utilized based on the 15 differentially expressed prognostic FRGs, and a 10-gene signature was constructed
Summary
Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common malignant endocrine tumor and its incidence has steadily increased in many countries over the past several decades [1, 2]. Ferroptosis describes a novel form of regulated cell death that occurs as a consequence of lethal lipid peroxidation, which is distinct from the apoptosis, necroptosis and pyroptosis [6, 7]. It can be induced by experimental compounds or clinical drugs, such as erastin, rasselective lethal small molecule 3 (RSL3), or sorafenib, in cancer cells and certain normal cells [8]. Ferroptosis is a novel iron-dependent and Reactive oxygen species (ROS) reliant type of cell death which is distinct from the apoptosis, necroptosis and pyroptosis. This study aims at exploring the expression of ferroptosis-related genes (FRG) and their prognostic values in PTC
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