ABSTRACT
@#[Abstract] Objective: To explore the expression of PSME3 (proteasome activator complex subunit 3) in gastric cancer (GC) tissues and its correlation with the prognosis of GC patients, and to further analyze its effect and mechanism in the occurrence and development of GC. Methods: The expression level of PSME3 gene in GC tissues was analyzed with TCGA and UALCAN database. qPCR was used to verify the expression of PSME3 in GC tissues and corresponding adjacent normal tissues that resected from 40 GC patients who were surgically treated in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2017 to December 2018. ROC curve and KaplanMeier plotter method were used to analyze the value of PSME3 mainly in diagnosing and predicting the prognosis of GC patients. The biological processes and pathways that PSME3 involved in were further analyzed. Results: The expression level of PSME3 in GC tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissues, and it’s high expression was significantly correlated with the tumor stage, pathological subtype, status of lymph node metastasis and Helicobacter pylori infection in GC patients (all P<0.01). PSME3 was also highly expressed in GC tissue samples collected by the qPCR confirmatory detection group (P<0.01). PSME3 could distinguish gastric cancer patients from normal people with an AUC value of 0.808. The overall survival time, the first progression survival time and post progression survival time of the GC patients with low PSME3 expression were longer than those in the patients with high PSME3 expression (all P<0.01). Mechanism research found that PSME3 mainly played an oncogenic role of the development of GC by regulating cell cycle, mTORC1 signaling pathway, PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and TGF- β signaling pathway etc. Conclusion: PSME3 is highly expressed in GC tissues, and it is significantly related to the poor prognosis of GC patients. It plays an oncogenic role in the occurrence and development of GC.