Analysis of hnRNP K Expression and Relevance for Clinical Outcomes in Hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most commonly seen primary liver cancer with poor prognosis and high mortality. Several studies have discovered that the overexpression of Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) was related to poorer prognoses of human tumors like colonic and rectal cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, stomach cancer, and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Nevertheless, its effects on HCC progression and prognosis remains unclear. Methods To evaluate the prognostic value of hnRNP K expression, we extracted data from public databases include The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and the Human Protein Atlas (HPA), and analysis of clinical specimens via tissue microarrays (TMA). Furthermore, our team utilized TIMER and GEPIA data bases to explore the association between the expression of hnRNP K and infiltration immunocytes and the relevant genetic biomarker sets. Co-expression analysis of hnRNP K in HCC was revealed using R2 bioinformatics tool. The GO and KEGG pathway analysis was completed via these co-expression genes to explore the possible signaling pathways in HCC. Result In the study, we found that the mRNA and protein levels of hnRNP K was increased in HCC. Higher hnRNP K expression is related to unfavorable survival outcomes and poorer clinicopathologic characteristics of HCC sufferers. Kaplan–Meier analyses showed that higher expression of hnRNP K was related to poorer overall survival (OS). Cox regressive analysis verified that hnRNP K was an independent prognostic factor for HCC. Moreover, there was a remarkable positive association existed between hnRNP K and the infiltration level of five types of immunocytes include B cells, CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells, macrophages, neutrophilic cells and dendritic cells (DCs). Meanwhile, the levels of the majority of immune sets were related to the expression of hnRNP K in HCC. These findings from pathway analysis might reveal the vital effects of hnRNP K and its co-expressed genes on a variety of carcinogenic processes. Conclusion Our findings revealed that hnRNP K have potential prognostic value and might be an underlying prognosis biomarker for HCC sufferers.