Prediction of Diagnostic Gene Biomarkers Associated with Immune Infiltration for Basal Cell Carcinoma

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a frequent tumor of the surface layer of skin or its accessories, and ranks first among the prevalence of skin cancer cases. However, its pathogenesis remains unclear. The purpose of this analysis was to scientifically evaluate the role of mRNAs in the occurrence and progression of BCC and further elucidate their underlying potential molecular mechanisms of action.

Differentially expression genes (DEGs) between nineteen BCC cases and five controls which initiate from the GSE103439 and GSE7553 datasets were identified and the transcriptome sequencing information was obtained. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses and Gene Ontology (GO) annotation were performed. Logistic regression (LASSO) and support vector machine (SVM) analyses were performed to identify candidate biomarkers obtained from protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis. The tumor microenvironment comprising hub genes in BCC was investigated by immune infiltration analysis. The expression of two representative hub genes (KIF23 and NCAPG) was measured by qRT-PCR. Finally, the potential miRNAs and lncRNAs related to the hub genes were analyzed on relevant websites to obtain a ceRNA interaction network.

Twenty-seven DEGs were identified. Fifteen hub genes were screened in the protein-protein interaction network. These showed marked enrichment in the cell cycle and p53 signaling pathway. FGF20, KIF23, and NCAPG were identified as the diagnostic markers of BCC. Immune cell infiltration analysis suggested their significant association with T cells CD4 memory activated, macrophages M1, and natural killer (NK) resting cells. Two miRNAs and twelve lncRNAs were used to construct the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network.

FGF20, KIF23, and NCAPG are potential diagnostic markers of BCC. Our findings may shed new light on the molecular mechanisms underlying BCC occurrence.