Identification of key biomarkers and functional pathways in osteosarcomas with lung metastasis: Evidence from bioinformatics analysis.

In osteosarcoma, the lung is the most common metastatic organ. Intensive work has been made to illuminate the pathogeny, but the specific metastatic mechanism remains unclear. Thus, we conducted the study to seek to find the key genes and critical functional pathways associated with progression and treatment in lung metastasis originating from osteosarcoma. Two independent datasets (GSE14359 and GSE85537) were screened out from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and the overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using GEO2R online platform. Subsequently, the Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways enrichment analysis of DEGs were conducted using DAVID. Meanwhile, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network constructed by STRING was visualized using Cytoscape. Afterwards, the key module and hub genes were extracted from the PPI network using the MCODE and cytoHubba plugin. Moreover, the raw data obtained from GSE73166 and GSE21257 were applied to verify the expression differences and conduct the survival analyses of hub genes, respectively. Finally, the interaction network of miRNAs and hub genes constructed by ENCORI was visualized using Cytoscape. A total of 364 DEGs were identified, comprising 96 downregulated genes and 268 upregulated genes, which were mainly involved in cancer-associated pathways, adherens junction, ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, MAPK signaling pathway. Subsequently, 10 hub genes were obtained and survival analysis demonstrated SKP2 and ASPM were closely related to poor prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma. Finally, hsa-miR-340-5p, has-miR-495-3p, and hsa-miR-96-5p were found to be most closely associated with these hub genes according to the interaction network of miRNAs and hub genes. The key genes and functional pathways identified in the study may contribute to understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the carcinogenesis and progression of lung metastasis originating from osteosarcoma, and provide potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

Liu D ，Zhou R ，Zhou A 《-》

Common gene signatures and key pathways in hypopharyngeal and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Evidence from bioinformatic analysis.

Zhou R ，Liu D ，Zhu J ，Zhang T ... -  《-》

Identification of hub genes specific to pulmonary metastasis in osteosarcoma through integrated bioinformatics analysis.

Chai Y ，Xu L ，He R ，Zhong L ，Wang Y ... -  《-》

Role of miRNA-542-5p in the tumorigenesis of osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma, one of the most common malignant bone tumors, is characterized by a high rate of metastasis, and the survival rate of patients with metastatic osteosarcoma is poor. Previous studies have reported that miRNAs often regulate the occurrence and development of various tumors. In this work, we identified miRNA-542-5p as a critical miRNA in osteosarcoma by overlapping three Gene Expression Omnibus datasets, and then evaluated miRNA-542-5p expression profiles using Gene Expression Omnibus and Sarcoma-microRNA Expression Database. We used MISIM to investigate miRNAs correlated with miR-542 and identified potential target genes of miRNA-542-5p using miRWalk. Functional and pathway enrichment analyses were performed using The Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery. Protein-protein interaction was performed using Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes and Cytoscape. We report that the relative level of miRNA-542-5p was significantly higher in osteosarcoma than in healthy bone. Expressions of hsa-miR-330 and hsa-miR-1202 were found to be strongly correlated with that of miR-542-5p. Furthermore, we identified a total of 514 down-regulated genes as possible targets of miR-542-5p. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis demonstrated that the putative target genes of miR-542-5p were most enriched in the cell-cycle process. The differentially expressed genes CDCA5, PARP12 and HSPD1 were found to be hub genes in protein-protein interaction networks. Finally, transfection of the osteosarcoma cell line U2OS with miR-542-5p mimics or inhibitor revealed that miR-542-5p can promote cell proliferation. In conclusion, our results suggest that miR-542-5p may promote osteosarcoma proliferation; thus, this miRNA may have potential as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis.

Zhu T ，Fan D ，Ye K ，Liu B ，Cui Z ，Liu Z ，Tian Y ... -  《FEBS Open Bio》

[Identification of key genes and functions in lung metastasis of osteosarcoma based on bioinformatics].

Wang X ，Peng LH ，Chen XW 《-》