Elucidation of putative key genes involved in triple-negative breast cancer progression

Vollständiger Abstract

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The molecular basis of TNBC development is poorly understood. Therefore, it is of interest to identify key genes and pathways involved in TNBC development and progression using a systems biology approach, followed by experimental validation. Gene ontology and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed to identify DEG-regulated biological functions and pathways; a PPI network was constructed using the STRING online database. The expression and prognostic value of the hub genes were validated by TCGA survival analysis, resulting in the identification of 727 DEGs (473 downregulated and 254 upregulated) in TNBC samples. The GO and KEGG analyses indicated that the DEGs were mainly related to cell adhesion and tumorigenesis and the PPI network showed six hub genes: CCND1, CDH1, ESR1, FN1, IL6 and PPARG as the top key genes. These were validated by real-time PCR in the TNBC cell line using a non-TNBC cell line as a calibrator and the obtained results were in accordance with the bioinformatics data