A Protective Role for RHOJ in NonSmall Cell Lung Cancer Based on Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis

RHOJ is a small G protein characterized by its abundant expression in endothelial cells. Existing research has documented a link between abnormal RHOJ expression and carcinogenesis. This research aims to investigate the protective role of RHOJ in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this study, Cancer Genome Atlas database and Gene Expression Omnibus were collected to analyze RHOJ expression and gene regulation networks in NSCLC. Oncomine^™ and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis tools were first utilized to analyze RHOJ expression, and then cBioPortal was employed for identification of RHOJ alterations and associated functional networks. To identify differential RHOJ expression, LinkedOmics was used, which also served to analyze Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. Besides, the target networks of kinases factors were explored using gene enrichment analysis. Our results suggested that lower expression of RHOJ was observed in patients with NSCLC compared with normal people. Low expression of this gene is linked to functional networks involving cytoskeleton, adhesion, infection, and Ras signaling pathways. Functional network analysis suggested that RHOJ regulates the Staphylococcus aureus infection, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway, and DNA and RNA damage. In conclusion, the results in this study demonstrated that data mining is an effective approach that can uncover information about RHOJ expression and potential regulatory networks in NSCLC, thus laying the groundwork for future studies of a similar kind.