Biological characteristics and clinical significance of cuproptosis-related genes in lung adenocarcinoma / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

@#Objective     To investigate the biological characteristics and clinical significance of cuproptosis-related genes in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) based on the multi-omics data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Methods     The cuproptosis-related genes were obtained from a study published in Science in March 2022. The whole genome data were used to reveal the mutation spectrum and copy number variation landscape of cuproptosis-related genes in LUAD and analyze its effects on transcriptome expression. Cuproptosis-related genes were annotated using Metascape analysis to further understand the pathways or functions in which these genes were involved. Subsequent univariate Cox analysis and Kaplan-Meier methods determined the prognosis of these genes in LUAD patients, and CellMiner analysis were used to identify those potential anticancer drugs for potentially targeting cuproptosis-related genes. Results     Cuproptosis-related genes were less frequently mutated in LUAD, and the effect of gene mutations on transcriptomic expression may depend on the type of mutation. Gene copy number variation was an important factor resulting in the disordered expression of cuproptosis-related genes. The 16 cuproptosis-related genes were mainly involved in glyoxylate metabolism and glycine degradation, copper ion entry, proteolitidylation, cellular amino acid catabolism process, oxidative stress response, etc. Among them, 6 genes (DLD, FDX1, DLAT, DLST, PDHA1, CDKN2A) were prognostic risk genes in LUAD. The CellMiner analysis suggested that 13 drugs were associated with 7 cuproptosis-related genes and they might be potential  anticancer drugs for potentially targeting cuproptosis. Conclusion     This study reveals the biological characteristics and clinical significance of cuproptosis-related genes in LUAD, and provides some reference and theoretical basis for the subsequent research of cuproptosis in cancer.