Research Paper Volume 14, Issue 22 pp 9167—9185
Minichromosome maintenance gene family: potential therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for lung squamous cell carcinoma
- 1 Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 2 Departments of Ultrasound Imaging, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 3 National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
Received: August 17, 2022 Accepted: November 16, 2022 Published: November 28, 2022
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204399How to Cite
Copyright: © 2022 Yang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The minichromosome maintenance (MCM) gene family comprises of ten members with key roles in eukaryotic DNA replication and are associated with the occurrence and progression of many tumors. However, whether the MCM family contributes to lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is unclear. In this study, we performed bioinformatic analysis to identify the roles of MCM genes in patients with LUSC. We also evaluated their differential gene expression, prognostic correlation, DNA methylation, functional enrichment of genetic alterations, and immunomodulation. According to the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource database, the expression of MCM2-10 mRNA was elevated in LUSC tissues. According to the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database, MCM2–8 and MCM10 were considerably upregulated in LUSC tissues, and protein levels of all MCMs were increased in LUSC tissues. In addition, among the MCM family members, the expression of MCM3 and MCM7 showed the strongest correlation with the prognoses of patients with LUSC. To clarify the role and mechanisms of the MCM family, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology enrichment studies were performed. We detected a significant correlation between the expression patterns of MCM family members and infiltrating immune cells. In conclusion, our results improve the understanding of the aberrant expression of MCM family members in LUSC. These findings demonstrate the potential of the MCM family as therapeutic targets and biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of LUSC.