Mechanism of action of GP73 in the regulation of liver cancer: An analysis based on transcriptome sequencing

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of action of GP73 in the regulation of liver cancer based on transcriptome analysis. MethodsHepatoma Hep3B cells were divided into GP73 interference group, GP73 interference control group, GP73 overexpression group, and GP73 overexpression control group, and transcriptome sequencing was used to measure mRNA expression in the four groups. Differentially expressed genes were screened out based on sequencing data and were then analyzed by GO functional analysis and KEGG enrichment analysis. Western blot was used to verify the expression of signaling pathway-related proteins. The t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups. ResultsThe differentially expressed genes in Hep3B cells were analyzed after GP73 interference and overexpression. GO analysis revealed 586 biological processes, and GP73 was mainly involved in the processes such as cellular process, single-organism process, and biological regulation. KEGG analysis showed that GP73 was mainly involved in the signaling pathways closely associated with liver cancer, including the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction signaling pathway, the TNF signaling pathway, and the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Western blot was used to verify the three proteins PI3K, p-Akt, and Akt in the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, and the results showed that there were significant differences in the expression of PI3K and p-Akt between the GP73 interference group and the GP73 interference control group and between the GP73 overexpression group and the GP73 overexpression control group (all P＜0.05). ConclusionThe signaling pathways involving GP73 in the regulation of liver cancer are screened out by transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, which provides new ideas for further elucidating the mechanism of action of GP73 in liver cancer