Abstract
Objective
Ubiquitin conjugate enzyme E2O (UBE2O) is a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that has been reported to be involved in tumorigenesis. This study investigated the role of UBE2O in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods
The expression of UBE2O was detected using qRT-PCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemical staining. Cell proliferation and Transwell assays were used to detect proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells, respectively. Bioinformatic analysis was performed to analyze the relationship between UBE2O and the clinical features, prognosis, and immune cell infiltration of HCC.
Results
UBE2O was significantly over-expressed in HCC tissues. High expression of UBE2O was associated with poor tumor grade and poor prognosis. Functional experiments showed that down-regulation of UBE2O inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Co-expression gene analysis and gene set enrichment analysis showed that UBE2O was associated with protein hydrolysis, cell cycle, and cancer-related pathways in HCC. The results of immune analysis revealed that the expression of UBE2O was positively correlated with the immune infiltration and expression of immune-related chemokines of HCC.
Conclusions
UBE2O is significantly correlated with the prognosis of HCC and may be a valuable prognostic biomarker for HCC.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Dr. Xin-qi HE for helpful discussions on topics related to this work.
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This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81670554 and No. 8217113366), the Science and Technology Plan of Wuhan City (No. 2020020601012208), the Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Hubei Province (No. 2017CFA068), the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2019YFC0121505) and the Science and Technology Innovation Cultivation Fund of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University (No. CXPY2020042).
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Lan, Sy., Ding, Y., Wang, C. et al. High Level of Ubiquitin Conjugate Enzyme E2O Indicates Poor Prognosis of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma. CURR MED SCI 43, 93–103 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-022-2609-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-022-2609-1