Abstract
BackgroundGlioblastoma is the most common and aggressive brain tumor associated with a poor prognosis. Plant homeodomain finger protein 20 (PHF20) is highly expressed in primary human gliomas and its expression is associated with tumor grade. However, the molecular mechanism by which PHF20 regulates glioblastoma remains poorly understood.MethodsGenome wide gene expression analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in U87 cells with PHF20 gene knockdown. Gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analyses were performed to investigate the functions and pathways of DEGs. Pathway-net and signal-net analyses were conducted to identify the key genes and pathways related to PHF20.ResultsExpression of 540 genes, including FEN1 and CCL3, were significantly altered upon PHF20 gene silencing. GO analysis results showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in small molecule metabolic and apoptotic processes. Pathway analysis indicated that DEGs were mainly involved in cancer and metabolic pathways. The MAPK, apoptosis and p53 signaling pathways were identified as the hub pathways in the pathway network, while PLCB1, NRAS and PIK3 s were hub genes in the signaling network.ConclusionsOur findings indicated that PHF20 is a pivotal upstream regulator. It affects the occurrence and development of glioma by regulating a series of tumor-related genes, such as FEN1, CCL3, PLCB1, NRAS and PIK3s, and activation of apoptosis signaling pathways. Therefore, PHF20 might be a novel biomarker for early diagnosis, and a potential target for glioblastoma therapies.
Highlights
Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive brain tumor associated with a poor prognosis
plant homeodomain finger protein 20 (PHF20) is highly expressed in glioma cell lines We first examined the expression of PHF20 in various glioma cell lines
The U87 cells were successfully infected with shCON and shPHF20 72 h after transfection, resulting in a 72% decrease in PHF20 expression (Fig. 1d)
Summary
Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive brain tumor associated with a poor prognosis. Plant homeodomain finger protein 20 (PHF20) is highly expressed in primary human gliomas and its expression is associated with tumor grade. The molecular mechanism by which PHF20 regulates glioblastoma remains poorly understood. Glioblastoma is the most common and lethal tumor of the central nervous system [1], owing to poor prognosis and repercussions on cognitive function [2]. One particular protein of interest in glioblastoma regulation is plant homeodomain finger protein 20 (PHF20). PHF20 is highly expressed in primary human glioma specimens [6], and functions as an immunogenic. PHF20 expression levels have been associated with the pathological tumor grade of gliomas [6]
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