Identification of miRNAs and target genes associated with lymph node metastasis in cervical cancer using bioinformatics analysis

Abstract

This study was designed to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) and genes (DEGs) in metastatic cervical cancer using bioinformatic tools. In this study, fifty-seven DEMs (48 downregulated and 9 upregulated) were identified, among which miR-4459 and miR-3195 expression was negatively associated with overall survival of cervical cancer patients. Then, 476 target DEGs were determined, and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. Seventeen hub genes (LONRF2, CCNE2, AURKA, SYT1, NEGR1, PPP1R12B, GABRP, RAD51, CDK1, FBLN5, PRKG1, CDC6, CACNA1C, MEOX2, ANLN, MYLK, and EDNRB) were finally selected to construct the miRNA-hub gene network. Overall, our study discovered the key miRNAs and mRNAs related to lymph node metastasis (LNM) in cervical cancer, which helps discover candidate therapeutic targets for cervical cancer.

Keywords:

• Differentially expressed genes
• cervical cancer
• lymph node metastasis
• bioinformatics analysis
• hub gene

Author contribution

Y. D. and X. Y. participated in the literature search, analysis and interpretation of the data, and X.W. wrote the manuscript. All authors saw and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received.