Peer Review #3 of "Co-expression analysis and ceRNA network reveal eight novel potential lncRNA biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma (v0.1)"

Abstract

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer in the world, with a high degree of malignancy and recurrence. The influence of ceRNA network in tumor on the biological function of liver cancer is very important, It has been reported that many lncRNA play key role in liver cancer development. In our study, integrated data analysis revealed potential eight novel lncRNA biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Transcriptome data and clinical data were downloaded from the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data portal.Weighted gene coexpression network analysis was performed to identify the expression pattern of genes in liver cancer. Then ceRNA network was constructed using transcriptome data. Results: The integrated analysis of miRNA and RNAseq in the database show eight novel lncRNAs that may be involved in important biological pathways including TNM and disease development in liver cancer. We performed function enrichment analysis about mRNAs affected by these lncRNAs. Conclusions: By identifying the ceRNA network and lncRNAs that affect liver cancer, we showed that eight novel lncRNAs played an important role in the development and progress of liver cancer.