Identification of CDC20 As an Immune Infiltration-Correlated Prognostic Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignancy with a poor prognosis. Some E3 ubiquitin-protein ligases play essential roles in HCC development. We aimed to explore a hub E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase gene and verify its association with prognosis and immune cell infiltration in HCC. We identified cell division cycle 20 (CDC20) as a hub E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase in HCC by determining the intersecting genes in a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in HCC data from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and 919 E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase genes from the Integrated annotations for Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-like Conjugation Database (IUUCD). DEGs and their correlations with clinicopathological features were explored in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), ICGC, and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases via the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The prognostic value of CDC20 was illustrated by Kaplan-Meier (K-M) curves and Cox regression analyses. Subsequently, the correlation between CDC20 and immune infiltration was demonstrated via the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). CDC20 expression was significantly higher in HCC than in normal tissues (all P < 0.05). K-M curves and Cox regression analyses showed that high CDC20 expression predicted a poor prognosis and might be an independent risk factor for HCC prognosis (P < 0.05). Additionally, the TIMER and GEPIA results indicated that CDC20 is correlated with the immune infiltration of CD8 + T cells, T cells (general), monocytes, and exhausted T cells. This research revealed the potential prognostic value of CDC20 in HCC and demonstrated that CDC20 might be an immune-associated therapeutic target in HCC because of its correlation with immune infiltration.

Comprehensive Investigation of Genes Associated with Cell Cycle Pathways for Prognosis and Immunotherapy in Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma

“…Cell division cycle 20 (CDC20) was identified associated with TILs, including CD8 + T cells, monocytes, and exhausted T cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 45 Additionally, DNA topoisomerase II alpha (TOP2A), AURKA, cell division cycle-associated 5 (CDCA5), Xenopus kinesin-like protein 2 (TPX2), centromere protein F (CENPF), and DNA replication factor 1 (CDT1) can be used as independent prognostic factors and were positively associated B cells, CD4 + T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells in HCC, respectively. [46][47][48] In our study, we also found differential CCGs expression, together with immune infiltration levels in CD4 T activated memory cells, CD8 T central cells, correlated with BLCA prognosis.…”