Identification of RNF150 as the hub gene associated with microsatellite instability in gastric cancer

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Gastric cancer (GC) is a common digestive tract malignancy with the sixth and third global incidence and cancer-related deaths, respectively. Microsatellite instability (MSI), account for one of the molecular subtypes of GC, plays an important role in GC and is affected by a sophisticated network of gene interactions. In this study, we aimed to explore the expression pattern and clinical performance of RNF150 in GC patients. Methods Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was exploited to single out the vital module and core genes in TCGA database. We applied the protein–protein interaction (PPI) and survival analysis to propose and confirm RNF150 as the hub gene. Finally, we utilized IHC to explore the expression pattern of RNF150 in GC patients. Results The turquoise module was adopted as core module for the sake of its highest correlation coefficient and higher module significance value. With the highest weight correlation and standard correlation, RNF150 was finally selected as the hub gene for following validation. In validation, data obtained from the test sets showed a lower expression of RNF150 in MSI GC compared to microsatellite stability (MSS) GC. Moreover, survival analysis shows that MSI GC patients with a lower RNF150 expression level displayed a longer OS time. In 10 GC patients, compared with normal gastric tissues, the protein level of RNF150 was virtually upregulated in GC tissue. Furthermore, RNF150 protein level was decreased in MSI GC samples compared to MSS GC samples, which is in accordance with results we obtained in database. Conclusions RNF150 was determined and confirmed as a novel biomarker in MSI GC. It is expected to be an auspicious prognostic biomarker for MSI GC patients.