Identification of ANGPT2, FLT3, IGF1 and SPP1 related to glycolysis and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor of the liver. Aerobic glycolysis is the reason for the high proliferation rate of HCC cells. In addition, PI3K / Akt pathway stimulates angiogenesis, which is beneficial to the growth of HCC cells. The aim of this research was to screen biomarkers related to glycolysis and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in HCC. Methods In TCGA-LIHC dataset, differential analysis was performed to screen out the DEGs between tumor and normal groups. The candidate genes were obtained through overlapping DEGs, GMRGs and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway-related genes. Biomarkers were identified by ten algorithms in the PPI network. The correlation between angiogenesis/autophagy/apoptosis/EMT and biomarkers was analyzed. Results A sum of 7476 DEGs were obtained between tumor and normal groups. Soon afterwards, 20 candidate genes were obtained. Then, we identified 4 biomarkers (ANGPT2, FLT3, IGF1 and SPP1) via PPI. we found these biomarkers were positively associated with angiogenesisa, autophagy, apoptosis and EMT. Finally, ANGPT2 and SPP1 was higher expressed in HCC group compared to the normal group. Conclusion Overall, we obtained four biomarkers related to glycolysis and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway (ANGPT2, FLT3, IGF1 and SPP1) associated with HCC, which laid a theoretical foundation for the treatment of HCC.