Pancancer Analysis of the Oncogenic and Prognostic Role of NOL7: A Potential Target for Carcinogenesis and Survival

Abstract

Despite growing evidence suggesting the critical function of NOL7 in cancer initiation and development, a systematic pancancer analysis of NOL7 is lacking. Herein, we present a comprehensive study of NOL7 which aimed to explore its potential role and detailed mechanisms across 33 human tumors based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CATPAC) databases. As a result, both gene and protein levels of NOL7 were found to be increased in various tumor tissues, including breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA), colon adenocarcinoma (COAD), hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) as compared with corresponding normal tissues. Meanwhile, dysregulated NOL7 expression was found to be closely related to pathological stage and prognosis in several cancers, including LIHC, ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma (OV), and bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA). The DNA methylation level of NOL7 was found to be decreased in most cancers and to be negatively associated with NOL7 expression. Furthermore, NOL7 expression was determined to be significantly associated with levels of infiltrating cells and immune checkpoint genes, including HMGB1. Analysis of NOL7-related genes revealed that RNA metabolism pathways, including “ribosome biogenesis”, “spliceosome”, and “RNA transport”, were mainly involved in the functional mechanism of NOL7 in human cancers. In summary, this pancancer study characterized the relationship between NOL7 expression and clinicopathologic features in multiple cancer types and further showed its potential regulatory network in human cancers. It represents a systemic analysis for further functional and therapeutic studies of NOL7 and highlights its predictive value with respect to the carcinogenesis and prognosis of various cancers, especially LIHC.