Abstract
Background: Mitochondria-nuclear cross-talk and mitochondrial retrograde regulation are involved in the genesis and development of breast cancer (BC). Therefore, mitochondria can be regarded as a promising target for BC therapeutic strategies. The present study aimed to construct regulatory network and seek the potential biomarkers of BC diagnosis and prognosis as well as the molecular therapeutic targets from the perspective of mitochondrial dysfunction. Methods: The microarray data of mitochondria-related encoding genes in BC cell lines were downloaded from GEO including GSE128610 and GSE72319. GSE128610 was treated as test set and validation sets consisted of GSE72319 and TCGA tissue samples, intending to identify mitochondria-related differentially expressed genes (mrDEGs). We performed enrichment analysis, PPI network, hub mrDEGs and overall survival analysis and constructed transcription factor (TF)-miRNA-hub mrDEGs network. Results: A total of 23 up-regulated and 71 down-regulated mrDEGs were identified and validated in BC cell lines and tissues. Enrichment analyses indicated that mrDEGs were associated with several cancer-related biological processes. Moreover, 9 hub mrDEGs were identified and validated in BC cell lines and tissues. Finally, 5 hub coregulated mrDEGs, 21 miRNAs and 117 TFs were used to construct TF-miRNA-hub mrDEGs network. MYC associated zinc finger protein (MAZ), heparin binding growth factor (HDGF) and Sp2 transcription factor (SP2) regulated 3 hub mrDEGs. Hsa-mir-21-5p, hsa-mir-1-3p, hsa-mir-218-5p, hsa-mir-26a-5p and hsa-mir-335-5p regulated 2 hub mrDEGs. Overall survival analysis suggested that the up-regulation of fibronectin 1 (FN1), as well as the down-regulation of discoidin domain receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (DDR2) correlated with unfavorable prognosis in BC. Conclusion: TF-miRNA-hub mrDEGs had instruction significance for the exploration of BC etiology. The hub mrDEGs such as FN1 and DDR2 were likely to regulate mitochondrial function and be novel biomarkers for BC diagnosis and prognosis as well as the therapeutic targets.
Highlights
Mitochondria, the only extranuclear organelle carried with genetic material, plays an important role in carcinogenesis through its communication and retrograde regulation of nucleus [1]
Overall survival analysis suggested that the up-regulated FN1 and downregulated DDR2 conferred to poor breast cancer (BC) prognosis
Our study aims to focus on mitochondria-related differential expressed genes (mrDEGs), construct potential transcription factor (TF)-miRNA-mrDEGs network and seek potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers as well as the molecular therapeutic targets of BC from the perspective of mitochondrial dysfunction
Summary
Mitochondria, the only extranuclear organelle carried with genetic material, plays an important role in carcinogenesis through its communication and retrograde regulation of nucleus [1]. Mitochondria from non-cancer cell lines has been shown to suppress multiple carcinogenic pathways and reverse the carcinogenic properties of tumor cells under the same nuclear background, including cell proliferation, viability in hypoxia, anti-apoptosis property, resistance to anticancer drugs, invasion, colony formation, and enhancing the response of tumor cells to treatment [4]. These findings emphasize that mitochondria have critical regulatory roles for cancer cell property. We aimed to construct regulating network and seek the potential biomarkers of BC diagnosis, prognosis and the molecular therapeutic targets from the perspective of mitochondrial dysfunction
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