Rho-GTPase activating protein 30 (ARHGAP30) can enhance the intrinsic hydrolysis of GTP and regulates Rho-GTPase negatively. The relationship between ARHGAP30 expression and lung adenocarcinoma is unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the differences in expression of ARHGAP30 between lung adenocarcinoma tissues and normal tissues and the relationship between DNA methylation and ARHGAP30 expression in lung adenocarcinoma. To determine the role of ARHGAP30 expression in the prognosis and survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 was performed, comprising analyses of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways, Panther pathways, Reactome pathways, Wikipathways, Gene Ontology, Kinase Target Network, Transcription Factor Network, and a protein-protein interaction network. The association of ARHGAP30 expression with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, immunostimulators, major histocompatibility complex molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in lung adenocarcinoma tissues was also analyzed. DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 correlated negatively with ARHGAP30 expression. Patients with lung adenocarcinoma with high DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 had poor prognosis. The prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with low ARHGAP30 expression was also poor. ARHGAP30 expression in lung adenocarcinoma correlated positively, whereas methylation of ARHGAP30 correlated negatively, with levels of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that many pathways associated with ARHGAP30 should be studied to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma. We speculated that DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 suppresses ARHGAP30 expression, which reduces tumor immunity, leading to poor prognosis for patients with lung adenocarcinoma.
Rho-GTPase activating protein 30 (ARHGAP30) can enhance the intrinsic hydrolysis of GTP and regulates Rho-GTPase negatively. The relationship between ARHGAP30 expression and lung adenocarcinoma is unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the differences in expression of ARHGAP30 between lung adenocarcinoma tissues and normal tissues and the relationship between DNA methylation and ARHGAP30 expression in lung adenocarcinoma. To determine the role of ARHGAP30 expression in the prognosis and survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 was performed, comprising analyses of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways, Panther pathways, Reactome pathways, Wikipathways, Gene Ontology, Kinase Target Network, Transcription Factor Network, and a protein-protein interaction network. The association of ARHGAP30 expression with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, immunostimulators, major histocompatibility complex molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in lung adenocarcinoma tissues was also analyzed. DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 correlated negatively with ARHGAP30 expression. Patients with lung adenocarcinoma with high DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 had poor prognosis. The prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with low ARHGAP30 expression was also poor. ARHGAP30 expression in lung adenocarcinoma correlated positively, whereas methylation of ARHGAP30 correlated negatively, with levels of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that many pathways associated with ARHGAP30 should be studied to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma. We speculated that DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 suppresses ARHGAP30 expression, which reduces tumor immunity, leading to poor prognosis for patients with lung adenocarcinoma.
Entities:
Keywords:
ARHGAP30; DNA methylation; gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA); lung adenocarcinoma; tumor immunity
Worldwide, lung cancer cases and deaths are increasing. In 2018, GLOBOCAN [1] estimated that there were 2.09 million new cases (11.6% of the total number of cancer cases) and 1.76 million deaths (18.4% of the total number of cancer deaths), which is higher than the rate reported in 2012 (1.8 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths), making it the most common cause of cancer and cancer deaths in both men and women [2]. Lung cancer includes multiple subtypes, and the proportion of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has increased in recent years. Despite significant advances in chemotherapy and molecular targeted therapy, the survival rate of LUAD remains unsatisfactory. Tumor recurrence and metastasis are major challenges in the clinical treatment of LUAD [3]. To improve the prognosis of patients with LUAD, more targeted molecules should be identified to diagnose, treat, and determine the prognosis of patients. We suggest that ARHGAP30 might have potential as a new targeting molecule.The Rho protein family belongs to the small GTP-binding proteins of the Ras superfamily (including the Ras, Rho, Rab, Ran, and Rrf families), which have a molecular weight between 20 and 30 kDa and control numerous signal transduction pathways as molecular switches in eukaryotic cells [4]. Rho proteins act as signal converters in the signal transduction pathway of cells, acting on the cytoskeleton or target proteins, and produce a variety of biological effects [5]. Rho GTPase activating protein 30 (ARHGAP30), a Rho-specific Rho GAP, has been reported to enhance the intrinsic hydrolysis of GTP and might regulate Rho GTPase negatively [6].Recent studies have demonstrated a close relationship between Rho-GTPases and the development and metastasis of various human tumors [7]. In some studies on the relationship between ARHGAP30 and cancer, upregulation of ARHGAP30 attenuated pancreatic cancer progression by inactivating the β-catenin pathway [8]. In addition, ARHGAP30 promotes p53 acetylation and function in colorectal cancer [9]. However, whether there is a difference in the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD, a relationship between the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD and DNA methylation, and whether these affect patient’s prognosis, survival, and tumor immune infiltration, are unclear and require further study.This present study aimed to investigate the differential expression of ARHGAP30 between LUAD tissues and normal tissues and the relationship between ARHGAP30 expression and DNA methylation in LUAD. The role of ARHGAP30 expression in the prognosis and survival of patients with LUAD was studied. In addition, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) of ARHGAP30 was performed using various bioinformatic analyses, including Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, Panther pathways, Reactome pathways, Wikipathways, Gene ontology (GO; biological process, cellular component, and molecular function), Kinase Target Network, Transcription Factor Network, and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network in the Biological General Repository for Interaction Datasets (BI-OGRID). The association of ARHGAP30 expression with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), immunostimulators, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in LUAD tissues were also analyzed. We believe that ARHGAP30 can be developed as a new biomarker for LUAD. The study of ARHGAP30-associated immune infiltration will provide a new direction for immunotherapy of lung adenocarcinoma.
RESULTS
Differential expression of the ARHGAP30 mRNA and protein in LUAD tissues and normal tissues
Figure 1A shows a summary view of the different transcriptional levels of ARHGAP30 in various cancers in the Oncomine [10] database. The red line in the figure shows that the expression level of ARHGAP30 in lung cancer tissue was significantly lower than that in normal tissue. Figure 1B1–1B6 show that the mRNA expression levels of ARHGAP30 were considerably higher in LUAD than in normal tissue. Figure 1B1–1B3 show the fold change, associated p-values, and overexpression Gene Rank, based on Oncomine 4.5 analysis [10], including box plots of ARHGAP30 mRNA levels in the Hou Lung, Selamat Lung, and Okayama Lung datasets. Figure 1B4, 1B5 show the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD based on SurvExpress [11] analysis. Figure 1 (B6) shows the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD based on GEPIA [12]. P values as described in the figure are statistically significant. According to analysis at the Warner [13] database, the abundance of the different exons of the ARHGAP30 gene show an uneven balance between normal and tumor tissues in patients with LUAD (Figure 2A). Figure 2A1 shows the expression of ARHGAP30 in normal tissues (n = 58) and Figure 2A2 shows the expression of ARHGAP30 in tumor tissues (n = 488). The data shown in Figure 2A4, 2A5 indicates that ARHGAP30 expression correlated negatively with the level of DNA methylation.
Figure 1
Comparison of mRNA and protein expression of (A) Summary view of ARHGAP30. The transcription level of ARHGAP30 in different types of cancer. P-value < 0.05, Note: The Z-score standardizes the color to describe the relative value in the row. Among them, red indicates overexpression or copy acquisition of genes in the analysis; blue indicates low expression or copy loss of genes in these analyses. Datasets comprised samples represented as microarray data measuring mRNA expression in primary tumors, cell lines, or xenografts. (B) Transcription of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma (from Oncomine, SurvExpress, and GEPIA databases). mRNA expression levels of ARHGAP30 were significantly higher in lung adenocarcinoma than in normal tissue. (B1–B3) The fold change, associated p-values, and overexpression Gene Rank, based on Oncomine 4.5 analysis. Box plots show ARHGAP30 mRNA levels in the Hou Lung, Selamat Lung, and Okayama Lung datasets. (B4, B5) The expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD based on SurvExpress analysis; (B6) The expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD based on GEPIA analysis; P values as described in the figure are statistically significant. (C) ARHGAP30 transcription in subgroups of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, stratified based on sex, age, and other criteria (UALCAN). (C1) Sample types. (C2) Individual cancer stages. (C3) Ethnicity. (C4) Sex. (C5) Age. (C6) Smoking habits. (C7) Nodal metastasis status. (C8) TP53 mutation status. ☆, P < 0.05; ☆☆, P < 0.01; ☆☆☆, P < 0.001. (D) Differential abundance of the ARHGAP30 protein in patients with lung adenocarcinoma, stratified by sex, age, and other criteria. (D1) Sample types. (D2) Individual cancer stages. (D3) Ethnicity. (D4) Sex. (D5) Age. (D6) Weight. (D7) Tumor grade. (D8) Tumor histology. ☆, P < 0.05; ☆☆, P < 0.01; ☆☆☆, P < 0.001.
Figure 2
DNA methylation and the differential expression of (A) The abundance of the different exons of the ARHGAP30 gene shows an uneven balance in normal and tumor tissues in patients with lung adenocarcinoma according to the Wanderer database. (A1) Expression of ARHGAP30 in normal tissues (n = 58); (A2) Expression of ARHGAP30 in tumor tissues (n = 488); (A3) Comparison of the mean expression of ARHGAP30 between normal tissue and lung adenocarcinoma tissue. (A4, A5) The expression of ARHGAP30 correlated negatively with the level of DNA methylation. (B) Highly mutated genes and the expression of ARHGAP30 in the TCGAportal database. The value adjacent to the highly mutated gene is the permutation test p-value of gene expression between the driver mutated (red) and not-mutated (gray) samples. (C1, C2) Box plots of the mRNA expression of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma before and after mutation of highly mutated genes (KEAP1, STK11) in the Linkedomics database. (D) Heat map of ARHGAP30 methylation in lung adenocarcinoma. (E1, E2) Kaplan–Meier plots of the survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with different ARHGAP30 DNA methylation levels (Different methylation probes cg07837534 and cg00045607 in the MethSurv database). (F) Gene expression and methylation of ARHGAP30 in samples of primary tumors and solid tissues analyzed at the TCGAportal database. Spearman T: Spearman correlation between expression and methylation in primary tumor samples. Spearman N: Spearman correlation between expression and methylation in solid tissue standard samples. Mean T: Mean value of the methylation beta-value in primary tumor samples. Mean N: Mean value of methylation in normal solid tissue samples.
Comparison of mRNA and protein expression of (A) Summary view of ARHGAP30. The transcription level of ARHGAP30 in different types of cancer. P-value < 0.05, Note: The Z-score standardizes the color to describe the relative value in the row. Among them, red indicates overexpression or copy acquisition of genes in the analysis; blue indicates low expression or copy loss of genes in these analyses. Datasets comprised samples represented as microarray data measuring mRNA expression in primary tumors, cell lines, or xenografts. (B) Transcription of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma (from Oncomine, SurvExpress, and GEPIA databases). mRNA expression levels of ARHGAP30 were significantly higher in lung adenocarcinoma than in normal tissue. (B1–B3) The fold change, associated p-values, and overexpression Gene Rank, based on Oncomine 4.5 analysis. Box plots show ARHGAP30 mRNA levels in the Hou Lung, Selamat Lung, and Okayama Lung datasets. (B4, B5) The expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD based on SurvExpress analysis; (B6) The expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD based on GEPIA analysis; P values as described in the figure are statistically significant. (C) ARHGAP30 transcription in subgroups of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, stratified based on sex, age, and other criteria (UALCAN). (C1) Sample types. (C2) Individual cancer stages. (C3) Ethnicity. (C4) Sex. (C5) Age. (C6) Smoking habits. (C7) Nodal metastasis status. (C8) TP53 mutation status. ☆, P < 0.05; ☆☆, P < 0.01; ☆☆☆, P < 0.001. (D) Differential abundance of the ARHGAP30 protein in patients with lung adenocarcinoma, stratified by sex, age, and other criteria. (D1) Sample types. (D2) Individual cancer stages. (D3) Ethnicity. (D4) Sex. (D5) Age. (D6) Weight. (D7) Tumor grade. (D8) Tumor histology. ☆, P < 0.05; ☆☆, P < 0.01; ☆☆☆, P < 0.001.DNA methylation and the differential expression of (A) The abundance of the different exons of the ARHGAP30 gene shows an uneven balance in normal and tumor tissues in patients with lung adenocarcinoma according to the Wanderer database. (A1) Expression of ARHGAP30 in normal tissues (n = 58); (A2) Expression of ARHGAP30 in tumor tissues (n = 488); (A3) Comparison of the mean expression of ARHGAP30 between normal tissue and lung adenocarcinoma tissue. (A4, A5) The expression of ARHGAP30 correlated negatively with the level of DNA methylation. (B) Highly mutated genes and the expression of ARHGAP30 in the TCGAportal database. The value adjacent to the highly mutated gene is the permutation test p-value of gene expression between the driver mutated (red) and not-mutated (gray) samples. (C1, C2) Box plots of the mRNA expression of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma before and after mutation of highly mutated genes (KEAP1, STK11) in the Linkedomics database. (D) Heat map of ARHGAP30 methylation in lung adenocarcinoma. (E1, E2) Kaplan–Meier plots of the survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with different ARHGAP30 DNA methylation levels (Different methylation probes cg07837534 and cg00045607 in the MethSurv database). (F) Gene expression and methylation of ARHGAP30 in samples of primary tumors and solid tissues analyzed at the TCGAportal database. Spearman T: Spearman correlation between expression and methylation in primary tumor samples. Spearman N: Spearman correlation between expression and methylation in solid tissue standard samples. Mean T: Mean value of the methylation beta-value in primary tumor samples. Mean N: Mean value of methylation in normal solid tissue samples.
Differential expression of ARHGAP30 mRNA in LUAD tissues and normal tissues
Figure 1C shows mRNA expression levels of ARHGAP30 in subgroups of patients with LUAD, stratified based on sample type, individual cancer stage, ethnicity, sex, age, smoking habit, nodal metastasis status, and TP53 mutation status (UALCAN [14]). The P-value of the comparison between each is shown in Supplementary Table 1. Figure 1C1 shows a significant difference between normal tissue and lung adenocarcinoma tissue (P < 0.001). Figure 1C2–1C8 show that in addition to the differential expression between tumor tissues and normal tissues, there were statistically significant differences between Stage 1 and Stage 3, Stage 1 and Stage 4, Stage 2 and Stage 3, male and female, and N0 and N2.
Differential abundance of the ARHGAP30 protein in LUAD tissues and normal tissues
Figure 1D shows the protein levels of ARHGAP30 in subgroups of patients with LUAD, stratified based on sample type, individual cancer stage, ethnicity, sex, age, weight, tumor grade, and tumor histology (assessed using UALCAN [14] and CPTAC [15]). The P-value of the comparison between each is shown in Supplementary Table 2. Figure 1D1 shows a significant difference between normal tissue and LUAD tissue (P < 0.001). Figure 1D1–1D8 show that in addition to the differential abundance between tumor tissues and normal tissues, there were statistically significant differences between age 41–60 years and 61–80 years; and Grade 2 and Grade 3.
Effect of mutations in common hypermutated genes and DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 on the expression of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma versus normal tissues
The location of ARHGAP30 methylation in the lung adenocarcinoma cases was on chromosome 1, 161015000 to 161,069905. Figure 2B shows that ARHGAP30 expression was affected by some highly mutated genes in the analysis using the TCGAportal [16] database. Among them, KRAS (encoding KRAS proto-oncogene, GTPase), KEAP1 (encoding kelch like ECH associated protein 1), STK11 (encoding serine/threonine kinase 11), and NF1 (encoding neurofibromin 1) genes had statistically significant P values. Figure 2C1, 2C2 show that ARHGAP30 mRNA expression in LUAD was significantly lower than that in normal tissues after mutation of highly mutated genes (KEAP1 and STK11) in the Linkedomics [17] database. These results indicate that mutations in KEAP1 and STK11 significantly reduce ARHGAP30 gene expression and affect LUAD development.Figure 2D shows a heatmap of ARHGAP30 DNA methylation (using four probes: cg07837534, cg12081303, cg00045607, cg03089651) in LUAD based on analysis at the Methsurv [18] database, which showed that ARHGAP30 DNA methylation levels were markedly increased in LUAD. A Kaplan–Meier map for patients with LUAD with different levels of ARHGAP30 DNA methylation showed that patients with hypomethylation had a statistically significant better survival prognosis (Figure 2E1, 2E2) [18]. The Spearman correlation between expression and methylation in primary tumor samples was significantly higher than the Spearman correlation between expression and methylation in normal samples of solid tissues (Figure 2F) [16].
Prediction of the prognosis of patients with LUAD according to ARHGAP30 mRNA levels
We found that the prognosis of patients with LUAD with high ARHGAP30 mRNA expression levels was significantly better than that of patients with low ARHGAP30 mRNA expression levels, as demonstrated by the 12 overall survival curves shown in Figure 3 (all P < 0.01). Figure 3A1, 3A2 represent the two overall survival curves from the GEPIA [12] database; Figure 3C–3J represent the eight overall survival curves from the Oncolnc [19], Ualcan [14], UCSC [20], TCGA portal [16], TISIDB [21], KMplot [22], TIMER [23], and Linkedomics [17] databases. The two survival curves in Figure 3K1, 3K2 represent the overall survival curves from the PrognoScan [24] database. Figure 3B1, 3B2 show two disease-free survival curves from the GEPIA database, which indicate that the prognosis of patients with LUAD with high expression of ARHGAP30 mRNA was significantly higher than that of patients with low expression of ARHGAP30 mRNA (P < 0.01). The two survival curves in Figure 3L1, 3L2 represent recurrence-free survival curves from the PrognoScan [24] database), which show that the prognosis of patients with LUAD with high expression of ARHGAP30 mRNA were significantly higher than that of patients with low expression of ARHGAP30 mRNA (P < 0.05).
Figure 3
Overall survival curves, recurrence-free survival curves, and disease-free survival curves of The blue curves represent patients with lung adenocarcinoma with low ARHGAP30 expression, and the red curves represent patients with lung adenocarcinoma with high ARHGAP30 expression. (A1, A2) Two overall survival curves (in months and days, respectively) from the GEPIA database; (B1, B2) Two disease-free survival (DFS) curves for ARHGAP30 in the GEPIA database (in months and days, respectively). (C–J) Eight overall survival curves from the databases of Oncolnc, Ualcan, UCSC, TCGAportal, TISIDB, KMplot, TIMER, and Linkedomics, respectively. (K1, K2) Two survival curves representing the overall survival curves from the PrognoScan database. (L1, L2) Two survival curves representing recurrence-free survival curves from the PrognoScan database.
Overall survival curves, recurrence-free survival curves, and disease-free survival curves of The blue curves represent patients with lung adenocarcinoma with low ARHGAP30 expression, and the red curves represent patients with lung adenocarcinoma with high ARHGAP30 expression. (A1, A2) Two overall survival curves (in months and days, respectively) from the GEPIA database; (B1, B2) Two disease-free survival (DFS) curves for ARHGAP30 in the GEPIA database (in months and days, respectively). (C–J) Eight overall survival curves from the databases of Oncolnc, Ualcan, UCSC, TCGAportal, TISIDB, KMplot, TIMER, and Linkedomics, respectively. (K1, K2) Two survival curves representing the overall survival curves from the PrognoScan database. (L1, L2) Two survival curves representing recurrence-free survival curves from the PrognoScan database.
Genes, miRNAs, and lncRNAs correlated highly with ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma
We analyzed the genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) that correlated with ARHGAP30 based on the Linkedomics [17] database. Figure 4A shows a volcano plot of genes that correlated highly with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. Figure 4B shows a heatmap of genes that correlated highly and positively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. Figure 4C shows a heatmap of genes that correlated highly and negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. Figure 4D1–4D18 show scatter plots of the top 18 genes that correlated positively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD: ITGAL, DOCK2, MYO1F, SNX20, IL10RA, SASH3, IKZF1, NCKAP1L, SPN, CSF2RB, FAM78A, WAS, ARHGAP25, PIK3R5, CD37, FGD2, PTPRC, and CYTH4. Figure 4E1–4E18 show scatter plots of the top 18 genes that correlated negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD: SNRPE, HSPE1, DPY30, PSMB5, TMEM223, MRPS18A, PFDN6, C15orf63, YWHAE, APOA1BP, ACP1, TMEM9, TMEM183A, ILF2, SRP9, FBXO22OS, SF3B14, and CCT3.
Figure 4
Genes that correlated highly with (A) Volcano map of ARHGAP30-correlated genes in LUAD, the red dots on the right represent the positively related genes, and the green dots on the left represent the negatively related genes. (B, C) Heat maps showing the genes that correlated positively and negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD (top 50). Red indicates positively correlated genes; green indicates negatively correlated genes. (D1–D18) Scatter plots of the first 18 genes that correlated positively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. (E1–E18) Scatter plots of the first 18 genes that correlated negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD.
Genes that correlated highly with (A) Volcano map of ARHGAP30-correlated genes in LUAD, the red dots on the right represent the positively related genes, and the green dots on the left represent the negatively related genes. (B, C) Heat maps showing the genes that correlated positively and negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD (top 50). Red indicates positively correlated genes; green indicates negatively correlated genes. (D1–D18) Scatter plots of the first 18 genes that correlated positively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. (E1–E18) Scatter plots of the first 18 genes that correlated negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD.Figure 5A shows a volcano plot of miRNAs that correlated highly with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. Figure 5B shows a heatmap of miRNAs that correlated highly and positively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. Figure 5C shows a heatmap of miRNAs that correlated highly and negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. Figure 5D1–5D18 show scatter plots of the top 18 miRNAs that correlated positively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD: hsa-mir-150, hsa-mir-155, hsa-mir-146a, hsa-mir-511-1, hsa-mir-140, hsa-mir-142, hsa-mir-342, hsa-mir-511-2, hsa-mir-146b, hsa-mir-598, hsa-mir-378, hsa-mir-101-2, hsa-mir-133a-1, hsa-mir-1976, hsa-mir-218-2, hsa-mir-29c, hsa-mir-139, and hsa-mir-223. Figure 5E1–5E18 show scatter plots of the top 18 mRNAs that corelated negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD: hsa-mir-183, hsa-mir-182, hsa-mir-877, hsa-mir-1276, hsa-mir-3691, hsa-mir-151, hsa-mir-96, hsa-mir-760, hsa-mir-18b, hsa-mir-130b, hsa-mir-1254, hsa-mir-556, hsa-mir-200c, hsa-mir-421, hsa-mir-301b, hsa-mir-106b, hsa-mir-1266 and hsa-mir-561.
Figure 5
MiRNAs correlated highly with (A) Volcano map of ARHGAP30-correlated miRNAs in LUAD, the red dots on the right represent the positively associated miRNAs, and the green dots on the left represent the negatively associated miRNAs. (B, C) Heat maps showing the miRNAs that correlated positively and negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD (top 50). Red indicates positively correlated miRNAs; green indicates negatively correlated miRNAs. (D1–D18) Scatter plots of the first 18 miRNAs that correlated positively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. (E1–E18) Scatter plots of the first 18 miRNAs that correlated negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD.
MiRNAs correlated highly with (A) Volcano map of ARHGAP30-correlated miRNAs in LUAD, the red dots on the right represent the positively associated miRNAs, and the green dots on the left represent the negatively associated miRNAs. (B, C) Heat maps showing the miRNAs that correlated positively and negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD (top 50). Red indicates positively correlated miRNAs; green indicates negatively correlated miRNAs. (D1–D18) Scatter plots of the first 18 miRNAs that correlated positively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. (E1–E18) Scatter plots of the first 18 miRNAs that correlated negatively with ARHGAP30 in LUAD.We analyzed the long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that correlated with ARHGAP30 based on the TANRIC [25] database. Figure 6A1–6A20 show scatter plots of lncRNAs that are highly and positively correlated with ARHGAP30 in LUAD: ENSG00000257824.1, ENSG00000268802.1, ENSG00000261644.1, ENSG00000255197.1, ENSG00000267074.1, ENSG00000233038.1, ENSG00000245164.2, ENSG00000229645.4, ENSG00000272908.1, ENSG00000265148.1, ENSG00000247774.2, ENSG00000238121.1, ENSG00000270107.1, ENSG00000242258.1, ENSG00000237484.5, ENSG00000239636.1, ENSG00000225331.1, ENSG00000228427.1, ENSG00000258810.1, ENSG00000224875.2. Figure 6B1–6B10 show survival curves with a better prognosis for those lncRNAs with low expression associated with ARHGAP30: ENSG00000182057.4, ENSG00000235570.1, ENSG00000250838.1, ENSG00000251059.1, ENSG00000229656.2, ENSG00000232527.3, ENSG00000261521.1, ENSG00000233903.2, ENSG00000186615.6, and ENSG00000215394.4 (all P < 0.05). Figure 6C1–6C10 show survival curves with a better prognosis for highly expressed lncRNAs associated with ARHGAP30: ENSG00000256691.1, ENSG00000266312.1, ENSG00000270182.1, ENSG00000231335.1, ENSG00000249717.1, ENSG00000267259.1, ENSG00000256984.1, ENSG00000178977.3, ENSG00000264469.1, and ENSG00000258670.1 (all P < 0.05).
Figure 6
LncRNAs correlated highly with (A1–A20) Scatter plots of lncRNAs that are positively associated with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. (B1–B10) ARHGAP30 correlated lncRNAs, in which low expression has a better prognosis according to the survival curve of the lncRNAs. (C1–C10) ARHGAP30 correlated lncRNAs, in which high expression has a better prognosis according to the survival curve of lncRNAs.
LncRNAs correlated highly with (A1–A20) Scatter plots of lncRNAs that are positively associated with ARHGAP30 in LUAD. (B1–B10) ARHGAP30 correlated lncRNAs, in which low expression has a better prognosis according to the survival curve of the lncRNAs. (C1–C10) ARHGAP30 correlated lncRNAs, in which high expression has a better prognosis according to the survival curve of lncRNAs.
Gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma
We performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) [26] of ARHGAP30 using the Linkedomics [17] database for KEGG Pathway [27], Panther Pathway [28], Reactome Pathway [29], Wikipathway [30], Gene ontology Biological Process [31, 32], Gene ontology Cellular Component [31, 32], Gene ontology Molecular Function [31, 32], Kinase Target Network, Transcription Factor Network, and PPI BIOGRID Network [33]. We identified many genes related to tumor immunity in the enrichment results.The results of KEGG pathway enrichment analysis are shown in Figure 7A. Significantly enriched pathways were identified using false discovery rate (FDR) less than 0.05 and the absolute value of the normalized enrichment score greater than 1. Figure 7B1, 7B2 show the enrichment profiles of some statistically significant gene sets in the KEGG analysis. Supplementary Figures 1–9 show the bar charts and enrichment profiles for ARHGAP30 GSEA of the Panther Pathway, Reactome Pathway, Wikipathway, Gene ontology Biological Process, Gene ontology Cellular Component, Gene ontology Molecular Function, Kinase Target Network, Transcription Factor Network, and PPI BIOGRID Network. Tables 1–10 detail the results of ARHGAP30 GSEA for the Panther Pathway, Reactome Pathway, Wikipathway, Gene ontology Biological Process, Gene ontology Cellular Component, Gene ontology Molecular Function, Kinase Target Network, Transcription Factor Network, and PPI BIOGRID Network, respectively, which were statistically significant (absolute normalized enrichment score (NES values greater than 1, FDR and P values less than 0.05).
Figure 7
KEGG pathway-based GSEA of (A) Bar chart of KEGG pathway-based GSEA of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (FDR < 0.05). (B1–B16) GSEA enrichment analysis Plots of 16 tumor immune-related KEGG gene sets (FDR < 0.05).
Table 1
KEGG pathway based gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis
11
5
-0.76111
-1.6567
0
0.027882
Table 10
PPI BIOGRID network gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Gene set
Size
Leading edge number
ES
NES
P Value
FDR
PPI_BIOGRID_M856
27
20
-0.80351
-2.2385
0
0
PPI_BIOGRID_M299
43
23
-0.77865
-2.3323
0
0
PPI_BIOGRID_M422
41
25
-0.78055
-2.38
0
0
PPI_BIOGRID_M298
50
37
-0.8034
-2.6225
0
0
PPI_BIOGRID_M300
49
42
-0.88664
-3.0801
0
0
PPI_BIOGRID_M272
85
44
-0.53652
-2.1103
0
0.000404
PPI_BIOGRID_M428
43
23
-0.62913
-2.1148
0
0.000471
PPI_BIOGRID_M441
36
15
-0.63714
-2.0772
0
0.000706
PPI_BIOGRID_M734
30
11
-0.69304
-2.0258
0
0.00113
PPI_BIOGRID_M848
22
11
-0.67958
-1.9924
0
0.001177
PPI_BIOGRID_M857
14
13
-0.83146
-2.0371
0
0.001256
PPI_BIOGRID_M581
56
23
-0.63221
-2.0062
0
0.001284
PPI_BIOGRID_M172
31
14
-0.63806
-1.9488
0
0.001507
PPI_BIOGRID_M544
20
12
-0.7468
-1.9646
0
0.001521
PPI_BIOGRID_M438
16
6
-0.74768
-1.9459
0
0.001589
PPI_BIOGRID_M597
13
6
-0.85103
-1.9511
0
0.001614
PPI_BIOGRID_M309
238
89
0.83885
1.6286
0
0.003523
PPI_BIOGRID_M185
32
21
-0.63805
-1.8991
0
0.003822
PPI_BIOGRID_M702
15
8
-0.76267
-1.8672
0
0.006592
PPI_BIOGRID_M722
46
24
-0.58535
-1.8575
0
0.007286
PPI_BIOGRID_M189
11
7
-0.86049
-1.8475
0
0.008616
PPI_BIOGRID_M717
23
12
-0.67161
-1.8398
0
0.008732
PPI_BIOGRID_M583
69
27
-0.54002
-1.8412
0
0.008744
PPI_BIOGRID_M951
10
5
-0.81538
-1.8293
0.008929
0.010809
PPI_BIOGRID_M190
11
7
-0.79575
-1.8176
0.016949
0.012359
PPI_BIOGRID_M819
10
8
-0.80619
-1.8117
0
0.012656
KEGG pathway-based GSEA of (A) Bar chart of KEGG pathway-based GSEA of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (FDR < 0.05). (B1–B16) GSEA enrichment analysis Plots of 16 tumor immune-related KEGG gene sets (FDR < 0.05).From the results of KEGG pathway GSEA (Table 1), Primary immunodeficiency, Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation, Chemokine signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, and Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis were associated with immunity. From the results of Panther Pathway GSEA (Table 2), T cell activation, B cell activation, Inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling pathway, Interleukin signaling pathway, and Toll receptor signaling pathway were associated with immunity. From the results of Reactome Pathway GSEA (Table 3), Defensins, Translocation of ZAP-70 to Immunological synapse, Generation of second messenger molecules, Costimulation by the CD28 family, PD-1 signaling, Interleukin-2 family signaling, Interleukin-10 signaling, Interleukin-3, Interleukin-5 and GM-CSF signaling, DAP12 interactions, Immunoregulatory interactions between a Lymphoid and a non-Lymphoid cell, Phosphorylation of CD3 and TCR zeta chains, DAP12 signaling, Interleukin receptor SHC signaling, Antigen activates B Cell Receptor (BCR) leading to generation of second messengers, RHO GTPases Activate NADPH Oxidases, Chemokine receptors bind chemokines, Interferon-gamma signaling, and Regulation of actin dynamics for phagocytic cup formation were associated with immunity. From the results of Wikipathway GSEA analysis (Table 4), T-Cell antigen Receptor (TCR) Signaling Pathway, T-Cell antigen Receptor (TCR) pathway during Staphylococcus aureus infection, Allograft Rejection, IL-3 Signaling Pathway, Type II interferon signaling (IFNG), Interactions between immune cells and microRNAs in the tumor microenvironment, Cancer immunotherapy by PD-1 blockade, IL-2 Signaling Pathway, IL-9 Signaling Pathway, IL-7 Signaling Pathway, Macrophage markers, Chemokine signaling pathway, Selective expression of chemokine receptors during T-cell polarization, Cancer immunotherapy by CTLA4 blockade, T-Cell Receptor and Co-stimulatory Signaling, B Cell Receptor Signaling Pathway, Inflammatory Response Pathway, and IL-5 Signaling Pathway were associated with immunity. From the results of Gene ontology Biological Process GSEA (Table 5), the GO terms cellular defense response, interleukin-2 production, interferon-gamma production, leukocyte proliferation, lymphocyte activation involved in immune response, leukocyte cell-cell adhesion, myeloid dendritic cell activation, adaptive immune response, T cell activation, interleukin-4 production, cytokine metabolic process, tumor necrosis factor superfamily cytokine production, response to chemokine, natural killer cell activation, regulation of leukocyte activation, B cell activation, immune response-regulating signaling pathway, and interleukin-10 production were associated with immunity. From the results of the Gene ontology Cellular Component GSEA (Table 6), the GO terms MHC protein complex, immunological synapse, and mast cell granule were associated with immunity. From the results of Gene ontology Molecular Function GSEA (Table 7–10) the GO terms MHC protein binding, cytokine receptor activity, immunoglobulin binding, antigen binding, and cytokine binding were associated with immunity.
Table 2
Panther pathway gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Gene set
Description
Size
Leading edge number
ES
NES
P Value
FDR
P00053
T cell activation
75
30
0.87572
1.6754
0
0
P02738
De novo purine biosynthesis
26
16
-0.79062
-2.2412
0
0
P00017
DNA replication
19
10
-0.79041
-2.2625
0
0
P00023
General transcription regulation
28
14
-0.72986
-2.101
0
0.001287
P00010
B cell activation
58
19
0.84216
1.5819
0
0.004295
P00055
Transcription regulation by bZIP transcription factor
45
14
-0.58101
-1.8961
0
0.005792
P00038
JAK/STAT signaling pathway
15
9
0.9035
1.5543
0.002381
0.006872
P02746
Heme biosynthesis
12
6
-0.73501
-1.7337
0.011364
0.013998
P02740
De novo pyrimidine ribonucleotides biosynthesis
10
7
-0.79533
-1.7549
0.009901
0.014894
P00031
Inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling pathway
196
72
0.78311
1.524
0
0.015463
P00051
TCA cycle
10
5
-0.83656
-1.7588
0
0.017377
P02739
De novo pyrimidine deoxyribonucleotide biosynthesis
13
8
-0.74772
-1.7772
0
0.019307
P00009
Axon guidance mediated by netrin
30
12
0.81439
1.4941
0.008511
0.035736
P00014
Cholesterol biosynthesis
12
8
-0.76183
-1.6443
0.010101
0.039902
Table 3
Wikipathway gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Gene set
Description
Size
Leading edge number
ES
NES
P Value
FDR
R-HSA-110373
Resolution of AP sites via the multiple-nucleotide patch replacement pathway
26
15
-0.80592
-2.1643
0
0
R-HSA-114604
GPVI-mediated activation cascade
34
14
0.86846
1.613
0
0.003124
R-HSA-1268020
Mitochondrial protein import
52
35
-0.82458
-2.784
0
0
R-HSA-1461973
Defensins
21
5
0.92843
1.7135
0
0
R-HSA-162599
Late Phase of HIV Life Cycle
121
59
-0.61857
-2.4395
0
0
R-HSA-191859
snRNP Assembly
49
19
-0.78096
-2.5186
0
0
R-HSA-194441
Metabolism of non-coding RNA
49
19
-0.78096
-2.5186
0
0
R-HSA-198933
Immunoregulatory interactions between a Lymphoid and a non-Lymphoid cell
122
79
0.86427
1.6654
0
0.000368
R-HSA-202427
Phosphorylation of CD3 and TCR zeta chains
20
20
0.93356
1.6673
0.002353
0.00042
R-HSA-202430
Translocation of ZAP-70 to Immunological synapse
17
16
0.94274
1.6844
0
0
R-HSA-202433
Generation of second messenger molecules
30
22
0.94177
1.7411
0
0
R-HSA-2029482
Regulation of actin dynamics for phagocytic cup formation
60
14
0.83348
1.5954
0
0.005648
R-HSA-2172127
DAP12 interactions
38
21
0.87591
1.6582
0
0.000327
R-HSA-2299718
Condensation of Prophase Chromosomes
69
47
-0.66539
-2.1895
0
0
R-HSA-2424491
DAP12 signaling
29
15
0.88744
1.6332
0
0.00084
R-HSA-379724
tRNA Aminoacylation
42
32
-0.71306
-2.3694
0
0
R-HSA-380108
Chemokine receptors bind chemokines
45
26
0.84855
1.5991
0
0.004982
R-HSA-388841
Costimulation by the CD28 family
67
34
0.88459
1.7064
0
0
R-HSA-389948
PD-1 signaling
21
20
0.93832
1.7049
0
0
R-HSA-451927
Interleukin-2 family signaling
44
28
0.89201
1.6924
0
0
R-HSA-512988
Interleukin-3, Interleukin-5 and GM-CSF signaling
47
24
0.86993
1.6512
0
0.000294
R-HSA-5621480
Dectin-2 family
24
10
0.90122
1.6503
0
0.000245
R-HSA-5668599
RHO GTPases Activate NADPH Oxidases
13
5
0.94977
1.6075
0
0.003718
R-HSA-5696399
Global Genome Nucleotide Excision Repair (GG-NER)
84
31
-0.63145
-2.2073
0
0
R-HSA-606279
Deposition of new CENPA-containing nucleosomes at the centromere
Antigen activates B Cell Receptor (BCR) leading to generation of second messengers
32
18
0.86
1.6179
0
0.002744
Table 4
Reactome pathway gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Gene set
Description
Size
Leading edge number
ES
NES
P Value
FDR
WP3937
Microglia Pathogen Phagocytosis Pathway
40
25
0.93221
1.7523
0
0
WP69
T-Cell antigen Receptor (TCR) Signaling Pathway
89
39
0.86566
1.6825
0
0
WP3863
T-Cell antigen Receptor (TCR) pathway during Staphylococcus aureus infection
61
26
0.86662
1.6615
0
0
WP3945
TYROBP Causal Network
59
40
0.88146
1.6593
0
0
WP2328
Allograft Rejection
87
55
0.86119
1.6499
0
0
WP286
IL-3 Signaling Pathway
48
22
0.87343
1.6334
0
0
WP78
TCA Cycle (aka Krebs or citric acid cycle)
18
13
-0.79775
-2.1053
0
0
WP4752
Base Excision Repair
31
13
-0.76263
-2.224
0
0
WP4521
Glycosylation and related congenital defects
25
13
-0.78449
-2.2261
0
0
WP466
DNA Replication
36
19
-0.75101
-2.3665
0
0
WP623
Oxidative phosphorylation
37
27
-0.81707
-2.3904
0
0
WP405
Eukaryotic Transcription Initiation
42
24
-0.77435
-2.4676
0
0
WP477
Cytoplasmic Ribosomal Proteins
88
72
-0.77946
-2.4707
0
0
WP107
Translation Factors
50
28
-0.76662
-2.4884
0
0
WP4324
Mitochondrial complex I assembly model OXPHOS system
44
39
-0.84395
-2.6711
0
0
WP111
Electron Transport Chain (OXPHOS system in mitochondria)
73
61
-0.83256
-2.9456
0
0
WP4595
Urea cycle and associated pathways
21
9
-0.73691
-2.0795
0
0.000281
WP531
DNA Mismatch Repair
22
10
-0.77183
-2.0484
0
0.000515
WP619
Type II interferon signaling (IFNG)
37
22
0.87609
1.625
0
0.000533
WP4753
Nucleotide Excision Repair
44
16
-0.59965
-2.0373
0
0.000713
WP2446
Retinoblastoma Gene in Cancer
86
45
-0.55877
-1.9707
0
0.001443
WP4022
Pyrimidine metabolism
83
39
-0.49658
-1.9718
0
0.001546
WP4559
Interactions between immune cells and microRNAs in tumor microenvironment
28
20
0.86424
1.6013
0
0.001864
WP4585
Cancer immunotherapy by PD-1 blockade
23
15
0.88715
1.6016
0
0.00205
WP49
IL-2 Signaling Pathway
42
17
0.84445
1.6036
0
0.002278
WP22
IL-9 Signaling Pathway
17
9
0.92271
1.6042
0
0.00233
WP205
IL-7 Signaling Pathway
25
12
0.89998
1.5928
0
0.003417
WP4146
Macrophage markers
9
8
0.97473
1.5863
0
0.003594
WP3929
Chemokine signaling pathway
163
62
0.82524
1.5876
0
0.003728
WP4494
Selective expression of chemokine receptors during T-cell polarization
29
20
0.86987
1.5752
0
0.003837
WP581
EPO Receptor Signaling
26
8
0.87123
1.5768
0
0.003844
WP2849
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Differentiation
55
18
0.84073
1.5807
0
0.003852
WP4582
Cancer immunotherapy by CTLA4 blockade
14
7
0.91643
1.5725
0
0.004038
WP2583
T-Cell Receptor and Co-stimulatory Signaling
29
13
0.86168
1.5679
0
0.004807
WP23
B Cell Receptor Signaling Pathway
96
39
0.81089
1.5636
0
0.005498
WP453
Inflammatory Response Pathway
30
15
0.84311
1.5595
0
0.005676
WP24
Peptide GPCRs
73
19
0.81715
1.5604
0
0.005858
WP2453
TCA Cycle and Deficiency of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase complex
16
11
-0.77333
-1.9018
0
0.006183
WP127
IL-5 Signaling Pathway
40
13
0.82934
1.5565
0
0.006321
WP4553
FBXL10 enhancement of MAP/ERK signaling in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
32
10
-0.59305
-1.8368
0
0.011093
WP1946
Cori Cycle
17
8
-0.72333
-1.8214
0
0.012022
WP4629
Computational Model of Aerobic Glycolysis
11
7
-0.77655
-1.8124
0
0.013017
WP197
Cholesterol Biosynthesis Pathway
13
9
-0.76865
-1.7715
0.009901
0.019786
WP4240
Regulation of sister chromatid separation at the metaphase-anaphase transition
15
9
-0.68148
-1.7149
0
0.035479
WP438
Non-homologous end joining
10
2
-0.78427
-1.6835
0.024194
0.040727
WP4320
The effect of progerin on the involved genes in Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome
36
14
-0.57494
-1.6836
0
0.042578
Table 5
Gene ontology biological process based gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Gene set
Description
Size
Leading edge number
ES
NES
P Value
FDR
GO:0006968
cellular defense response
53
26
0.85607
1.6667
0
0
GO:0000959
mitochondrial RNA metabolic process
33
22
-0.67592
-2.0538
0
0
GO:0002181
cytoplasmic translation
84
50
-0.58607
-2.0597
0
0
GO:0098781
ncRNA transcription
93
46
-0.54515
-2.0641
0
0
GO:0071806
protein transmembrane transport
59
27
-0.70316
-2.1031
0
0
GO:0034502
protein localization to chromosome
68
39
-0.61386
-2.1257
0
0
GO:0042769
DNA damage response, detection of DNA damage
38
15
-0.70411
-2.1428
0
0
GO:0006490
oligosaccharide-lipid intermediate biosynthetic process
20
9
-0.8074
-2.1678
0
0
GO:0006354
DNA-templated transcription, elongation
84
27
-0.54275
-2.1898
0
0
GO:0045454
cell redox homeostasis
59
24
-0.65482
-2.1915
0
0
GO:0061641
CENP-A containing chromatin organization
24
16
-0.77476
-2.2312
0
0
GO:0036260
RNA capping
30
13
-0.79033
-2.3135
0
0
GO:0006353
DNA-templated transcription, termination
69
26
-0.69744
-2.3511
0
0
GO:0072350
tricarboxylic acid metabolic process
38
21
-0.73574
-2.4276
0
0
GO:0033108
mitochondrial respiratory chain complex assembly
68
53
-0.82238
-2.4489
0
0
GO:0010257
NADH dehydrogenase complex assembly
49
41
-0.83836
-2.4807
0
0
GO:0006289
nucleotide-excision repair
106
39
-0.64825
-2.4996
0
0
GO:0006414
translational elongation
123
82
-0.83503
-3.2155
0
0
GO:0032623
interleukin-2 production
63
31
0.83578
1.6105
0
0.000291
GO:0032609
interferon-gamma production
102
56
0.84241
1.6107
0
0.000317
GO:0070661
leukocyte proliferation
272
122
0.84138
1.6349
0
0.000349
GO:0002285
lymphocyte activation involved in immune response
165
68
0.83527
1.6137
0
0.000349
GO:0007159
leukocyte cell-cell adhesion
310
135
0.83054
1.6142
0
0.000388
GO:0001773
myeloid dendritic cell activation
27
15
0.86561
1.6095
0
0.000403
GO:0050690
regulation of defense response to virus by virus
29
12
0.85941
1.639
0
0.000437
GO:0002250
adaptive immune response
366
175
0.835
1.6177
0
0.000437
GO:0042110
T cell activation
437
184
0.83599
1.6255
0
0.000499
GO:0050867
positive regulation of cell activation
298
126
0.82659
1.608
0
0.000499
GO:0032633
interleukin-4 production
34
21
0.88557
1.6508
0
0.000582
GO:0045730
respiratory burst
27
10
0.90536
1.6256
0
0.000582
GO:0031123
RNA 3'-end processing
111
48
-0.62236
-1.9837
0
0.000584
GO:0016073
snRNA metabolic process
82
42
-0.56867
-1.9865
0
0.000611
GO:0051131
chaperone-mediated protein complex assembly
19
6
-0.74976
-2.0021
0
0.00064
GO:0042107
cytokine metabolic process
106
43
0.83001
1.6024
0
0.000698
GO:0071706
tumor necrosis factor superfamily cytokine production
133
54
0.82167
1.6013
0
0.000764
GO:1990868
response to chemokine
86
44
0.84852
1.6524
0
0.000873
GO:0030101
natural killer cell activation
79
30
0.83376
1.5967
0
0.000873
GO:0002694
regulation of leukocyte activation
461
199
0.82149
1.5987
0
0.000924
GO:0042113
B cell activation
221
86
0.82221
1.5887
0
0.000998
GO:0050866
negative regulation of cell activation
172
78
0.82699
1.5914
0
0.001011
GO:0002764
immune response-regulating signaling pathway
452
159
0.80813
1.5818
0
0.001215
GO:0032613
interleukin-10 production
46
24
0.83341
1.5734
0
0.001293
Table 6
Gene ontology cellular component based gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Gene set
Description
Size
Leading edge number
ES
NES
P Value
FDR
GO:0042611
MHC protein complex
19
16
0.91235
1.6397
0
0
GO:0036452
ESCRT complex
23
12
-0.7271
-1.9814
0
0
GO:0101031
chaperone complex
21
13
-0.7488
-2.089
0
0
GO:0005732
small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein complex
20
14
-0.84007
-2.2357
0
0
GO:0005844
polysome
70
44
-0.64071
-2.2843
0
0
GO:0009295
nucleoid
36
27
-0.76327
-2.3211
0
0
GO:1905368
peptidase complex
85
54
-0.68339
-2.4793
0
0
GO:0005681
spliceosomal complex
155
64
-0.60446
-2.5676
0
0
GO:0030964
NADH dehydrogenase complex
43
39
-0.82377
-2.6221
0
0
GO:0070069
cytochrome complex
29
22
-0.87423
-2.6756
0
0
GO:0070469
respiratory chain
84
62
-0.82349
-2.6858
0
0
GO:0120114
Sm-like protein family complex
69
28
-0.78085
-2.7326
0
0
GO:0030684
preribosome
66
39
-0.73361
-2.7355
0
0
GO:0001772
immunological synapse
32
17
0.85713
1.5928
0
0.000759
GO:1905348
endonuclease complex
23
10
-0.7109
-1.8954
0
0.003019
GO:0098552
side of membrane
459
171
0.80484
1.5734
0
0.00354
GO:0098636
protein complex involved in cell adhesion
35
14
0.83327
1.5509
0
0.00531
GO:0042629
mast cell granule
21
9
0.85342
1.5417
0
0.006069
GO:0001891
phagocytic cup
21
12
0.85394
1.536
0
0.006575
GO:0042581
specific granule
152
44
0.77662
1.5083
0
0.010431
GO:0070820
tertiary granule
155
43
0.77958
1.5136
0
0.010837
GO:0005657
replication fork
62
21
-0.52303
-1.7674
0
0.012616
GO:1990204
oxidoreductase complex
95
61
-0.47317
-1.7327
0
0.017008
GO:0031970
organelle envelope lumen
73
28
-0.44485
-1.7196
0
0.017172
GO:0030667
secretory granule membrane
279
76
0.75106
1.4744
0
0.023264
GO:0005697
telomerase holoenzyme complex
20
10
-0.62191
-1.6713
0.017241
0.032323
GO:0043235
receptor complex
391
143
0.73726
1.437
0
0.047337
GO:0036019
endolysosome
19
9
0.82188
1.4317
0.004587
0.047999
Table 7
Gene ontology molecular function-based gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Gene set
Size
Leading edge number
ES
NES
P Value
FDR
Description
GO:0042287
MHC protein binding
24
16
0.90783
1.6451
0
0
GO:0008135
translation factor activity, RNA binding
81
34
-0.59488
-2.1067
0
0
GO:0043021
ribonucleoprotein complex binding
117
44
-0.55984
-2.1205
0
0
GO:0000049
tRNA binding
50
32
-0.61345
-2.1332
0
0
GO:0015002
heme-copper terminal oxidase activity
24
16
-0.84644
-2.3002
0
0
GO:0030515
snoRNA binding
28
19
-0.80939
-2.3053
0
0
GO:0016675
oxidoreductase activity, acting on a heme group of donors
25
16
-0.84613
-2.3757
0
0
GO:0019843
rRNA binding
60
42
-0.74059
-2.4081
0
0
GO:0051082
unfolded protein binding
108
52
-0.69233
-2.6499
0
0
GO:0003735
structural constituent of ribosome
154
119
-0.83969
-3.289
0
0
GO:0016502
nucleotide receptor activity
22
14
0.87811
1.6115
0
0.00054724
GO:0035586
purinergic receptor activity
26
16
0.86825
1.6126
0
0.00082086
GO:0004896
cytokine receptor activity
88
49
0.84639
1.6087
0
0.0016417
GO:0017069
snRNA binding
34
10
-0.67977
-1.9375
0
0.0022837
GO:0003684
damaged DNA binding
67
26
-0.49758
-1.9239
0
0.0028547
GO:0016779
nucleotidyltransferase activity
114
44
-0.47695
-1.9243
0
0.0031142
GO:0035004
phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity
81
25
0.82041
1.5905
0
0.0032834
GO:0019865
immunoglobulin binding
22
12
0.86362
1.5831
0.0022272
0.003518
GO:0038187
pattern recognition receptor activity
20
11
0.87926
1.5833
0
0.0041043
GO:0052813
phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate kinase activity
73
24
0.81306
1.5743
0
0.0045147
GO:0043548
phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase binding
30
11
0.84191
1.546
0
0.0073877
GO:0003823
antigen binding
52
25
0.83357
1.5482
0.0020367
0.0080262
GO:0019239
deaminase activity
27
9
0.84449
1.5368
0
0.010149
GO:0042169
SH2 domain binding
33
9
0.83581
1.5289
0
0.010229
GO:0015026
coreceptor activity
39
20
0.83108
1.5324
0
0.010261
GO:0019955
cytokine binding
119
53
0.7923
1.5183
0
0.012547
GO:1990782
protein tyrosine kinase binding
76
18
0.79568
1.5158
0
0.012587
GO:0031491
nucleosome binding
66
20
-0.49926
-1.7891
0
0.016689
GO:0017056
structural constituent of nuclear pore
22
3
-0.61094
-1.758
0
0.023653
GO:0016790
thiolester hydrolase activity
31
13
-0.5909
-1.7292
0
0.028166
GO:0038024
cargo receptor activity
77
26
0.76716
1.4694
0
0.03776
GO:0104005
hijacked molecular function
70
14
0.77566
1.4646
0
0.039884
GO:0004713
protein tyrosine kinase activity
174
56
0.75063
1.4588
0
0.042685
GO:0003697
single-stranded DNA binding
93
41
-0.46853
-1.6551
0
0.044247
GO:0051087
chaperone binding
96
27
-0.46803
-1.6357
0
0.045003
GO:0030506
ankyrin binding
20
2
0.81515
1.4498
0.0090703
0.04856
GO:0051540
metal cluster binding
59
26
-0.53488
-1.6196
0
0.048846
The relationship between ARHGAP30 expression and TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in LUAD
Figures 8A, 9A, 10A, 11A, 12A, respectively, show heat maps of the relationship between the abundance of TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors and the expression of ARHGAP30. These heatmaps were mostly red, indicating that most of the TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors correlated positively with the expression of ARHGAP30. Also, dark red areas indicated that some of them had a strong positive correlation with the expression of ARHGAP30.
Figure 8
The correlation between the abundance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and expression of (A) Heat map of the relationship between the abundance of TILs and ARHGAP30 expression. (B1–B28) Scatter plots showing the positive correlation between ARHGAP30 expression and TILs in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma. Act_CD8, Activated CD8 T cell; Tcm_CD8, Central memory CD8 T cell; Tem_CD8, Effector memory CD8 T cell; Act_CD4, Activated CD4 T cell; Tcm_CD4, Central memory CD4 T cell; Tem_CD4, Effector memory CD4 T cell; Tgd, Gamma delta T cell; Tfh, T follicular helper cell; Th1, Type 1 T helper cell; Th17, Type 17 T helper cell; Th2, Type 2 T helper cell; Treg, Regulatory T cell; MDSC, Myeloid derived suppressor cell; Act_B, Activated B cell; Imm_B, Immature B cell; Mem_B, Memory B cell; NK, Natural killer cell; CD56brigh, CD56bright natural killer cell; CD56dim, CD56dim natural killer cell; NKT, Natural killer T cell; Act_DC, Activated dendritic cell; iDC, Immature dendritic cell; pDC, Plasmacytoid dendritic cell; Mast, Mast cell.
Figure 9
The correlation between the abundance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and the methylation of (A) Heat map of the relationship between the abundance of TILs abundance and ARHGAP30 DNA methylation. (B1–B39) Scatter plots showing the negative correlation between ARHGAP30 DNA methylation and TILs in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma. Act_CD8, Activated CD8 T cell; Tcm_CD8, Central memory CD8 T cell; Tem_CD8, Effector memory CD8 T cell; Act_CD4, Activated CD4 T cell; Tcm_CD4, Central memory CD4 T cell; Tem_CD4, Effector memory CD4 T cell; Tgd, Gamma delta T cell; Tfh, T follicular helper cell; Th1, Type 1 T helper cell; Th17, Type 17 T helper cell; Th2, Type 2 T helper cell; Treg, Regulatory T cell; MDSC, Myeloid derived suppressor cell; Act_B, Activated B cell; Imm_B, Immature B cell; Mem_B, Memory B cell; NK, Natural killer cell; CD56brigh, CD56bright natural killer cell; CD56dim, CD56dim natural killer cell; NKT, Natural killer T cell; Act_DC, Activated dendritic cell; iDC, Immature dendritic cell; pDC, Plasmacytoid dendritic cell; Mast, Mast cell.
Figure 10
The correlation between the expression of (A) Heat map of Spearman correlations between ARHGAP30 expression and immune inhibitors across human cancers. (B1–B21) Scatter plots showing the positive correlation between ARHGAP30 expression and immune inhibitors in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.
Figure 11
The correlation between the DNA methylation of (A) Heat map of Spearman correlations between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and immune inhibitors across human cancers. (B1–B30) Scatter plots showing the negative correlation between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and immune inhibitors in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.
Figure 12
The correlation between the expression of (A) Heat map of Spearman correlations between ARHGAP30 expression and immunostimulators across human cancers. (B1–B15) Scatter plots showing the positive correlation between ARHGAP30 expression and immunostimulators in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.
The correlation between the abundance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and expression of (A) Heat map of the relationship between the abundance of TILs and ARHGAP30 expression. (B1–B28) Scatter plots showing the positive correlation between ARHGAP30 expression and TILs in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma. Act_CD8, Activated CD8 T cell; Tcm_CD8, Central memory CD8 T cell; Tem_CD8, Effector memory CD8 T cell; Act_CD4, Activated CD4 T cell; Tcm_CD4, Central memory CD4 T cell; Tem_CD4, Effector memory CD4 T cell; Tgd, Gamma delta T cell; Tfh, T follicular helper cell; Th1, Type 1 T helper cell; Th17, Type 17 T helper cell; Th2, Type 2 T helper cell; Treg, Regulatory T cell; MDSC, Myeloid derived suppressor cell; Act_B, Activated B cell; Imm_B, Immature B cell; Mem_B, Memory B cell; NK, Natural killer cell; CD56brigh, CD56bright natural killer cell; CD56dim, CD56dim natural killer cell; NKT, Natural killer T cell; Act_DC, Activated dendritic cell; iDC, Immature dendritic cell; pDC, Plasmacytoid dendritic cell; Mast, Mast cell.The correlation between the abundance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and the methylation of (A) Heat map of the relationship between the abundance of TILs abundance and ARHGAP30 DNA methylation. (B1–B39) Scatter plots showing the negative correlation between ARHGAP30 DNA methylation and TILs in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma. Act_CD8, Activated CD8 T cell; Tcm_CD8, Central memory CD8 T cell; Tem_CD8, Effector memory CD8 T cell; Act_CD4, Activated CD4 T cell; Tcm_CD4, Central memory CD4 T cell; Tem_CD4, Effector memory CD4 T cell; Tgd, Gamma delta T cell; Tfh, T follicular helper cell; Th1, Type 1 T helper cell; Th17, Type 17 T helper cell; Th2, Type 2 T helper cell; Treg, Regulatory T cell; MDSC, Myeloid derived suppressor cell; Act_B, Activated B cell; Imm_B, Immature B cell; Mem_B, Memory B cell; NK, Natural killer cell; CD56brigh, CD56bright natural killer cell; CD56dim, CD56dim natural killer cell; NKT, Natural killer T cell; Act_DC, Activated dendritic cell; iDC, Immature dendritic cell; pDC, Plasmacytoid dendritic cell; Mast, Mast cell.The correlation between the expression of (A) Heat map of Spearman correlations between ARHGAP30 expression and immune inhibitors across human cancers. (B1–B21) Scatter plots showing the positive correlation between ARHGAP30 expression and immune inhibitors in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.The correlation between the DNA methylation of (A) Heat map of Spearman correlations between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and immune inhibitors across human cancers. (B1–B30) Scatter plots showing the negative correlation between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and immune inhibitors in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.The correlation between the expression of (A) Heat map of Spearman correlations between ARHGAP30 expression and immunostimulators across human cancers. (B1–B15) Scatter plots showing the positive correlation between ARHGAP30 expression and immunostimulators in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.Figure 8B1–8B28 show scatter plots of the relations the abundance of TILs and ARHGAP30 expression. The results showed that effector memory CD8 T cells, T follicular helper cells, type 1 T helper cells, regulatory T cells, myeloid derived suppressor cells, activated B cells, immature B cells, natural killer cells, natural killer T cells, macrophages, eosinophils, and mast cells showed a strong positive correlation with the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (Spearman correlation coefficient, r > 0.6; p value < 0.01). Figure 9B1–9B39 shows scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of immunostimulators and ARHGAP30 expression. The results showed that C10orf54, CD28, CD40LG, CD48, CD80, CD86, ICOS, KLRK1, LTA, and TNFRSF8 showed a strong positive correlation with the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (Spearman correlation coefficient, r > 0.6; p value < 0.01). Figure 10B1–10B21 show scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of MHC molecules and ARHGAP30 expression. The results showed that HLA-DMB, HLA-DOA, HLA-DPA1, HLA-DPB1, HLA-DQA1, and HLA-DRA showed a strong positive correlation with the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (Spearman correlation coefficient, r > 0.6; p value < 0.01). Figure 11B1–11B30 show scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of chemokines and ARHGAP30 expression. The results showed that CCL19 showed a strong positive correlation with the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (Spearman correlation coefficient, r > 0.6; p value < 0.01). Figure 12B1–12B15 show scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of chemokine receptors and ARHGAP30 expression. The results showed that CCR1, CCR2, CCR4, CCR5, CCR6, CCR7, CCR8, CXCR3, CXCR5, and CXCR6 showed a strong positive correlation with the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (Spearman correlation coefficient, r > 0.6; p value < 0.01).
The relationship between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in LUAD
Figures 13A and Supplementary Figures 10A, 11A, 12A, 13A, respectively, show heat maps of the relationship between TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors and DNA methylation of ARHGAP30. The results showed that in LUAD, most of them were blue, indicating that most of the TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors correlated negatively with DNA methylation of ARHGAP30. Also, some of them were very dark blue, indicating that they had a strong negative correlation with DNA methylation of ARHGAP30.
Figure 13
The correlation between the DNA methylation of (A) Heat map of Spearman correlations between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and immunostimulators across human cancers. (B1–B28) Scatter plots showing the negative correlation between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and immunostimulators in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.
The correlation between the DNA methylation of (A) Heat map of Spearman correlations between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and immunostimulators across human cancers. (B1–B28) Scatter plots showing the negative correlation between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and immunostimulators in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.Figure 13B1–13B28 show scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of TILs and DNA methylation of ARHGAP30. The results showed that activated B cell, immature B cell, myeloid derived suppressor cell, natural killer T cell, effector memory CD8 T cell, type 1 T helper cell, and regulatory T cell had a strong negative correlation with the DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (Spearman correlation coefficient, r < - 0.6; p value < 0.01). Supplementary Figure 10B1–10B39 show scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of immunostimulators and DNA methylation of ARHGAP30. The results showed that CD28, CD48, LTA, and TNFRSF8 had a strong negative correlation with the DNA methylation of AGHGAP30 in LUAD (Spearman correlation coefficient, r < - 0.6; p value < 0.01). Supplementary Figure 11B1–11B21 show scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of MHC molecules and DNA methylation of ARHGAP30. Supplementary Figure 12B1–12B30 show scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of chemokines and DNA methylation of ARHGAP30. Supplementary Figure 13B1–13B15 show scatter plots of the relationship between the abundance of chemokine receptors and DNA methylation of ARHGAP30. The results showed that CCR5 and CCR6 had a strong negative correlation with the DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 in LUAD (Spearman correlation coefficient, r < - 0.6; p value < 0.01).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
In this study, we showed that the expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD tissues was significantly lower than that in normal tissues. There were differences in ARHGAP30 mRNA expression levels in patients with LUAD with different sexes, cancer stages, and nodal metastatic status (Figure 1). The expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD tissues was significantly lower in the presence of KEAP1 and STK11 mutations. The correlation between DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and its mRNA expression levels was considerably higher in LUAD tissues than in normal tissues (Figure 2). There are some studies on the differential expression of ARHGAP30 in cancer [8, 34, 35]. The high DNA methylation level of ARHGAP30 might also be one of the reasons for the decreased ARHGAP30 expression in LUAD tissues. Genetic mutations in KEAP1 and STK11 might also be another reason for decreased expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD tissues. These were not reported in previous studies.Patients with LUAD with low ARHGAP30 expression had a significantly better prognosis than those with high ARHGAP30 expression (Figure 3). A study by Mao and Tong [35] also supports this point. Although some prognostic molecular markers have been found in patients with LUAD [36-43], ARHGAP30 might be developed as a molecular marker to evaluate the prognosis of patients with LUAD after surgery or in patients with advanced disease. We identified genes, miRNAs, and lncRNAs that were highly associated with ARHGAP30 in LUAD (Figures 4–6), which could provide new ideas and targets for epigenetic studies of ARHGAP30 in LUAD.We identified many pathways related to tumor immunity from the enrichment results of KEGG Pathway, Panther Pathway, Reactome Pathway, and Wikipathway (Figures 7, 14 and Supplementary Figures 1–3). Recent studies have demonstrated a close relationship between Rho GTPases and the development and metastasis of a variety of human tumors [7]. KEGG pathways included Primary immunodeficiency, Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation, Chemokine signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, and Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis. Panther pathways included T cell activation, B cell activation, Inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling pathway, Interleukin signaling pathway and Toll receptor signaling pathway. Reactome Pathways Defensins, Translocation of ZAP-70 to Immunological synapse, Generation of second messenger molecules, Costimulation by the CD28 family, PD-1 signaling, Interleukin-2 family signaling, Interleukin-10 signaling, Interleukin-3, Interleukin-5 and GM-CSF signaling, DAP12 inter-actions, Immunoregulatory interactions between a Lymphoid and a non-Lymphoid cell, Phosphorylation of CD3 and TCR zeta chains, DAP12 signaling, Interleukin receptor SHC signaling, Antigen activates B Cell Receptor (BCR) leading to generation of second messengers, RHO GTPases Activate NADPH Oxidases, Chemokine receptors bind chemokines, Interferon gamma signaling and Regulation of actin dynamics for phagocytic cup formation. Wikipathways included T-Cell antigen Receptor (TCR) Signaling Pathway, T-Cell antigen Receptor (TCR) pathway during Staphylococcus aureus infection, Allograft Rejection, IL-3 Signaling Pathway, Type II interferon signaling (IFNG), Interactions between immune cells and microRNAs in tumor microenvironment, Cancer immunotherapy by PD-1 blockade, IL-2 Signaling Pathway, IL-9 Signaling Pathway, IL-7 Signaling Pathway, Macrophage markers, Chemokine signaling pathway, Selective expression of chemokine receptors during T-cell polarization, Cancer immunotherapy by CTLA4 blockade, T-Cell Receptor and Co-stimulatory Signaling, B Cell Receptor Signaling Pathway, Inflammatory Response Pathway, and IL-5 Signaling Pathway.
Figure 14
Immune-related statistically significant KEGG pathway annotations. (A) Chemokine signaling pathway (hsa04062). (B) Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation (hsa04658). (C) Th17 cell differentiation (hsa04659). (D) T cell receptor signaling pathway (hsa04660). (E) Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis (hsa04666). (F) Primary immunodeficiency (hsa05340). Red denotes leading-edge genes; green denotes the remaining genes.
Immune-related statistically significant KEGG pathway annotations. (A) Chemokine signaling pathway (hsa04062). (B) Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation (hsa04658). (C) Th17 cell differentiation (hsa04659). (D) T cell receptor signaling pathway (hsa04660). (E) Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis (hsa04666). (F) Primary immunodeficiency (hsa05340). Red denotes leading-edge genes; green denotes the remaining genes.We further observed that the levels of TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, chemokine receptors and ARHGAP30 expression correlated positively in LUAD (Figures 8–13); however, these factors correlated negatively with the DNA methylation level of ARHGAP30 (Supplementary Figures 10–13). Anti-tumor immunotherapy is promising treatment modality in the fight against tumors; however, previous application found that its efficacy was not as good as expected. Through in-depth studies, it has been found that immune tolerance in the tumor microenvironment might be the most important reason leading to the unsatisfactory effects of immunotherapy [44, 45]. Defects in the development or function of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), CD4+ Th1 helper T cells, or natural killer (NK) cells all lead to more frequent tumorigenesis and/or more rapid growth [46]. Immunostimulators could accumulate in tumors and significantly inhibit tumor growth [47]. A tumor can escape T cell reactions by losing major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules [48]. Chemokines and chemokine receptors mediate the host response to cancer by directing leukocytes into the tumor microenvironment [49, 50]. Our results supported the above points. ARHGAP30 expression correlated positively with TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in LUAD (Figures 8–12), which might be related to the significantly reduced ARHGAP30 expression in LUAD. Levels of TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors were decreased in LUAD. Reduced or functional defects in tumor immune function result in more frequent occurrence and more rapid proliferation and growth of LUAD.Therefore, we proposed that DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 and mutations in KEAP1 and STK11 genes inhibit ARHGAP30 expression in LUAD. Decreased ARHGAP30 expression might inhibit TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in lung adenocarcinoma through pathways identified in the enrichment analysis, which in turn inhibits tumor immunity and ultimately promotes the formation and growth of LUAD.Our study is the first to perform prognostic analysis and evaluation of ARHGAP30 in patients with LUAD, to carry out GSEA of ARHGAP30, and to investigate the relationship between ARHGAP30 and TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in LUAD. These findings have important implications for the diagnosis, prognostic evaluation, and cancer immunotherapy of patients with LUAD Our study was limited by a lack of further experimental validation. We could also assess the relationship of ARHGAP30 with other types of lung cancer to determine the specific role of ARHGAP30 expression in the diagnosis and treatment of different types of lung cancer.Overall, our results suggest that DNA methylation of ARHGAP30, as well as mutations in KEAP1 and STK11, inhibit ARHGAP30 expression in LUAD, which in turn promotes LUAD formation and growth through multiple pathways that suppress tumor infiltrating immunity, thus contributing to poor prognosis of patients with LUAD.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We used the Oncomine 4.5 [10] database to analyze the differential expression of ARHGAP30 in various cancers and in the Hou lung, Selamat lung, and Okayama lung adenocarcinoma datasets. We used the SurvExpress [11] database to analyze the differential expression of ARHGAP30 in two lung adenocarcinoma datasets. We used the GEPIA [12] database to analyze the differential expression of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma. We used the Warner [13] database to explore the abundance of different exons of the ARHGAP30 gene in normal and tumor tissues of patients with LUAD. We used the Ualcan [14] database to analyze the differences of ARHGAP30 mRNA expression in subgroups of patients with lung adenocarcinoma patients according to sample type, individual cancer stage, ethnicity, sex, age, smoking habit, nodal metastasis status, and TP53 mutation status. We used the Ualcan [14] and CPTAC [15] databases to analyze the differential expression of ARHGAP30 protein in patients with LUAD stratified by sample type, individual cancer stage, ethnicity, sex, age, weight, tumor grade, and tumor histology.We used the TCGA portal [16] database to analyze the differential expression of ARHGAP30 after highly mutated gene mutation. We also used the TCGA portal database to analyze the correlation between ARHGAP30 gene expression and DNA methylation in primary tumors and normal tissue samples. We analyzed the mRNA expression of ARHGAP30 in LUAD before and after mutation of highly mutated genes (KEAP1, STK11) using the Linkedomics [17] database. We analyzed the heatmap of ARHGAP30 methylation in lung adenocarcinoma using the MethSurv [18] database. The Kaplan–Meier plots of patients with LUAD assessed using different ARHGAP30 methylation probes (cg07837534 and cg00045607) were analyzed.We used GEPIA [12], Oncolnc [19], Ualcan [14], UCSC [20], TCGAportal [16], TISIDB [21], KMplot [22], TIMER [23], Linkedomics [17], and PrognoScan [24] databases to analyze the overall survival (OS) curves for patients with LUAD. We used the GEPIA [12] database to analyze the disease-free survival (DFS) curves for patients with LUAD (in months and days, respectively). We used the PrognoScan database to analyze the recurrence-free survival (RFS) curves in patients with LUAD.We analyzed the genes and mRNAs that were highly associated with ARHGAP30 in LUAD using the Linkedomics [17] database and obtained the corresponding volcano plots, heat plots, and scatter plots. We analyzed the lncRNAs that were highly associated with ARHGAP30 in LUAD using the TANRIC [25] database and obtained the corresponding scatter plots and survival curves.We used the TISIDB [21] database to analyze the relationship between TILs, immunostimulators, MHC molecules, chemokines, chemokine receptors and the expression and DNA methylation of ARHGAP30 in LUAD.
Statistical methods
We used a t-test to analyze the differential expression levels of ARHGAP30 in normal and tumor samples. We analyzed the DNA methylation expression levels of ARHGAP30 in normal and tumor samples using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. We used Pearson correlation [51-54] to analyze ARHGAP30-associated genes, miRNAs, and lncRNAs. We performed survival analysis and plotted Kaplan–Meier curves for ARHGAP30. We performed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) [26] of ARHGAP30 for KEGG Pathway [27], Panther Pathway [28], Reactome Pathway [29], Wikipathway [30], Gene ontology Biological Process [31, 32], Gene ontology Cellular Component [31, 32], Gene ontology Molecular Function [31, 32], Kinase Target Network, Transcription Factor Network, and PPI BIOGRID Network [33].
Ethics approval and declaration
This study was approved by the academic ethics review board of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University. Human participants and research animals were not involved in this study. All software applications are freely and publicly available without custom code. All data in this article were obtained from publicly available databases, and all the data and pictures in this article are authorized.
Table 8
Kinase target network gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.
Gene set
Description
Size
Leading edge number
ES
NES
P Value
FDR
Kinase_LYN
LYN proto-oncogene, Src family tyrosine kinase
50
23
0.88163
1.69
0
0
Kinase_SYK
spleen associated tyrosine kinase
35
20
0.88807
1.6638
0
0
Kinase_LCK
LCK proto-oncogene, Src family tyrosine kinase
43
25
0.87754
1.6409
0
0
Kinase_HCK
HCK proto-oncogene, Src family tyrosine kinase
23
14
0.90568
1.6236
0
0.000453
Kinase_BTK
Bruton tyrosine kinase
9
4
0.96245
1.5569
0
0.014843
Kinase_FGR
FGR proto-oncogene, Src family tyrosine kinase
12
7
0.90291
1.5354
0.004819
0.023015
Kinase_FYN
FYN proto-oncogene, Src family tyrosine kinase
66
21
0.79674
1.5309
0
0.023306
Kinase_PRKCQ
protein kinase C theta
28
10
0.83313
1.5386
0.002179
0.023834
Kinase_ITK
IL2 inducible T-cell kinase
8
6
0.95805
1.5163
0
0.030592
Kinase_JAK3
Janus kinase 3
12
8
0.8914
1.5164
0.005051
0.033991
Table 9
Transcription factor network gene set enrichment analysis of ARHGAP30 in lung adenocarcinoma.