Expression and Prognostic Relevance of LncRNA GSEC in HNSC: Focus on OSCC
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56294/mw2025708Keywords:
HNSC, OSCC, lncRNA GSEC, Random ForestAbstract
Background: Bioinformatics identified HNSC diagnostic/prognostic lncRNAs; GSEC was selected for HNSC/OSCC validation.
Methods: HNSC transcriptomic/clinical data from TCGA identified differentially expressed lncRNAs. Univariate Cox regression found prognostic lncRNAs. The top 30 lncRNAs from random forest ranking intersected with Cox results selected diagnostic biomarkers. Xiantao Academic performed pan-cancer analysis of GSEC. UALCAN and Kaplan-Meier analyzed GSEC expression, clinical correlation, prognosis, and Xiantao Academic assessed immune infiltration in HNSC. Top 200 GSEC co-expressed genes (FDR < 0,05) underwent GO/KEGG enrichment via Metascape. qRT-PCR validated GSEC expression/clinical associations in collected OSCC tissues.
Results: A total of 2385 lncRNAs were differentially expressed in HNSC (1598 upregulated, 787 downregulated). Univariate Cox regression identified 1306 lncRNAs prognostic for HNSC. Intersection of the top 30 random forest-ranked lncRNAs with Cox results identified LINC02156, AL353807.5, and GSEC (ST3GAL4-AS1) as diagnostic biomarkers. GSEC was significantly upregulated in HNSC. Its expression correlated with pathological stage, clinical grade, and immune infiltration, but not with age/gender. High GSEC expression predicted poor prognosis. Enrichment of the top 200 co-expressed genes (FDR < 0,05) linked to GO terms (e.g., GO:0005788) and KEGG pathways (e.g., hsa00532). qRT-PCR confirmed GSEC overexpression in OSCC, correlating with T stage and lymph node metastasis, but not with age, sex, or differentiation grade.
Conclusion: GSEC is significantly upregulated in HNSC, linked to diagnosis, prognosis, immune infiltration (validated in OSCC), specifically correlating with T stage and lymph node metastasis, indicating its pro-oncogenic role and potential as a therapeutic target, warranting further study.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Deleheibateer, Od Bayarsaikhan, Ganbayar Batmunkh, Xu Wu, Xingan Zhou, Shiirevnyamba Avirmed (Author)
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