مقالات پذیرفته شده در هفتمین کنگره بین المللی زیست پزشکی
In Silico Analysis of Glutaminyl-Peptide Cyclotransferase (QPCT) Gene Expression Changes Associated with Tumor Progression stages in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
In Silico Analysis of Glutaminyl-Peptide Cyclotransferase (QPCT) Gene Expression Changes Associated with Tumor Progression stages in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
Atousa Ghorbani,1,*Faranak Jamshidian,2
1. Department of Biology, East Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 2. Department of Biology, East Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Introduction: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD), the most common form of pancreatic cancer, is characterized by its aggressive nature and poor prognosis. This malignancy arises from the cells lining the pancreatic ducts and poses significant challenges in diagnosis and treatment. Although many genes have been implicated in its pathogenesis, the expression changes of the Glutaminyl-Peptide Cyclotransferase (QPCT) gene in PAAD have been less investigated. Therefore, we conducted a study to examine the role of the QPCT gene in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and its potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.
Methods: In this Descriptive-analytical study, we used TCGA data from the OncoDB database to evaluate changes in the QPCT gene expression in PAAD to explore abnormal patterns in gene expression related to clinical data that were identified. Gene expression was normalized by the TMP method, and the groups were compared based on cancer and normal samples. Criteria for including patient data in the present study are demographic information such as pathological stage, especially T-stages.
Results: The TCGA pancreatic adenocarcinoma dataset consists of 178 normal and 200 cases of PAAD tissue samples. Moreover, the expression level of the QPCT gene was significantly increased in samples with TNM status Tstage4 compared to Tstage1, Tstage2, and Tstage3. Additionally, our Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the increase in QPCT gene expression was associated with poor prognosis of patients (Rank=0.03). Finally, we used ROC analysis to show that the QPCT gene can be considered a potential diagnostic biomarker (AUC=0.99, P<0.001).
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the expression level of the QPCT gene is increased in PAAD and is associated with a poor prognosis in patients. Furthermore, we suggest that QPCT gene expression can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for the targeted treatment of patients with PAAD. Our findings provide new insights into the pathophysiology of this disease and may help improve patient outcomes through early detection and personalized treatment.