Computational analysis for identification of early diagnostic biomarkers and prognostic biomarkers of liver cancer based on GEO and TCGA databases and studies on pathways and biological functions affecting the survival time of liver cancer.

BACKGROUND: Liver cancer is the sixth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the fourth most common cause of cancer death. The purpose of this work is to find new diagnostic biomarkers or prognostic biomarkers and explore the biological functions related to the prognosis of liver cancer. METHODS: GSE25097 datasets were firstly obtained and compared with TCGA LICA datasets and an analysis of the overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was conducted. Cytoscape was used to screen out the Hub Genes among the DEGs. ROC curve analysis was used to screen the Hub Genes to determine the genes that could be used as diagnostic biomarkers. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards model screened genes associated with prognosis biomarkers, and further Gene Set Enrichment Analysis was performed on the prognosis genes to explore the mechanism affecting the survival and prognosis of liver cancer patients. RESULTS: 790 DEGs and 2162 DEGs were obtained respectively from the GSE25097 and TCGA LIHC data sets, and 102 Common DEGs were identified by overlapping the two DEGs. Further screening identified 22 Hub Genes from 102 Common DEGs. ROC and survival curves were used to analyze these 22 Hub Genes and it was found that there were 16 genes with a value of AUC > 90%. Among these, the expression levels of ESR1,SPP1 and FOSB genes were closely related to the survival time of liver cancer patients. Three common pathways of ESR1, FOBS and SPP1 genes were identified along with seven common pathways of ESR1 and SPP1 genes and four common pathways of ESR1 and FOSB genes. CONCLUSIONS: SPP1, AURKA, NUSAP1, TOP2A, UBE2C, AFP, GMNN, PTTG1, RRM2, SPARCL1, CXCL12, FOS, DCN, SOCS3, FOSB and PCK1 can be used as diagnostic biomarkers for liver cancer, among which FOBS and SPP1 genes can also be used as prognostic biomarkers. Activation of the cell cycle-related pathway, pancreas beta cells pathway, and the estrogen signaling pathway, while on the other hand inhibition of the hallmark heme metabolism pathway, hallmark coagulation pathway, and the fat metabolism pathway may promote prognosis in liver cancer patients.

Response surface method was used to optimize the ultrasonic assisted extraction of flavonoids from Crinum asiaticum.

In this study, ultrasound-assisted extraction of flavonoid from Crinum asiaticum was studied through response surface methodology (RSM) to gain the best extraction process of flavonoid and enhance the extraction rate of flavonoid. In the following RSM experiment, we selected the corresponding data of every factor as the center point through the single-factor experiments, then the experimental data was subjected to multiple regression analysis. According to the statistical analysis results, the results were consistent with the polynomial regression model, the determination coefficient (R2) was 0.9769. The best conditions for maximum flavonoid yield were 60% ethanol concentration, 64 °C for extraction temperature, 1:28 (v/w) solid-to-liquid ratio with extraction time for 47 min. The best response of flavonoid yield was 1.63972%. The predicted results for best reaction conditions were in good agreement with experiment values. Ultrasound-assisted extraction method can enhance the extraction rate of flavonoid significantly. It is a powerful tool to extract of important phytochemicals from nature plant.

Anti-tumor activity of sulfated polysaccharides from Sargassum fusiforme.

In this study, our purpose is to discover the correlation between polysaccharides sulfated structure and anti-tumor activity. Sulfated polysaccharide from Sargassum fusiforme were synthesized with the chlorosulfonic acid pyridine method. The inhibitory effect of Sargassum fusiforme polysaccharides and the application of MTT assay before and after chemical modification on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG-2 cells in vitro were studied. Sulfated polysaccharide from sargassum fusiforme DS is 0.803. The modified polysaccharide has certain inhibitory effect on HepG-2 cells, and its inhibition on the cells growth has improved compared with the original SFPs. The sulfated polysaccharide from Sargassum fusiforme has the ability to enhance anti-tumor activities.

Study on apoptosis effect of human breast cancer cell MCF-7 induced by lycorine hydrochloride via death receptor pathway.

As research was conducted on the early apoptosis of human breast cancer cell MCF-7 caused by lycorine hydrochloride and the expression of the related apoptosis proteins. The early-period apoptosis rate of human breast cancer cell MCF-7 was tested with the AnnexinV/PI double staining and flow cytometry. The Western Blotting method was also used to detect the protein expression conditions of Fas, FasL, Caspase-8 and Bid. The results showed that the higher the dose, the higher the rate of apoptosis and that the rate of apoptosis was dependent on the dose; the relative protein activity of Fas, FasL, Caspase-8 and bid gradually rose with the increase of lycorine dosage and the activities revealed certain dose-independence. Results showed that lycorine hydrochloride could induce the apoptosis of human breast cancer cell MCF-7 through the death receptor pathway.