Screening and identification of haptoglobin showing its important role in pathophysiological process of gallbladder...

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) with poor prognosis has been a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In this study, we aimed to screen and identify crucial genes in GBC through integrative analysis of multiple datasets and further experimental validation. A candidate crucial gene, up-regulated haptoglobin (HP), was firstly screened, and then further analysis and validation mainly focused on whether higher enrichment level of HP was responsible for pathophysiological process of GBC. HP was found with diverse expression patterns in various cancer types, and the dynamic expression patterns indicated its spatiotemporal characteristics in different tissues and disease stages, implicating its role in multiple biological processes. Further experimental validation showed that HP could promote the GBC-SD cell proliferation, migration and invasion, implying its role in pathophysiological process of GBC. HP may have a crucial role in occurrence and development of GBC, and it provides possibility as a potential biomarker or target in cancer prognosis and treatment.