An integrated analysis of Dynamin 1 Like: A new potential prognostic indicator in hepatocellular carcinoma

Dynamin 1 Like (DNM1L), a member of dynamin superfamily capable of mediating mitochondrial outer membrane division, plays a key role in the progression of different types of tumors. However, the prognostic value, clinical significance of DNM1L and its specific mechanism involved in tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been investigated clearly. In this study, we found that the expression of DNM1L were significantly higher in HCC tissues than adjacent/normal liver tissues based on multiple data sets obtained from TCGA, GEO and ONCOMINE database, also its protein expression form Drp1 is significantly higher in HCC tissues than adjacent tissues, and is related to the degree of differentiation. Kaplan-Meier curves suggested that high DNM1L expression prominently correlated with poorer overall survival, progression-free survival, relapse-free survival and disease-specific survival. Multivariate analysis showed that higher DNM1L expression was independent prognostic factors of shorter overall survival and disease-free survival. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene set enrichment analysis analysis combined with validation experiments revealed the regulatory role of DNM1L on key molecules in the metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome p450 pathway, and DNM1L may also affects invasion and metastasis capability of HCC by mediating extracellular matrix -receptor interaction pathway. Moreover, analysis showed that higher DNM1L, CYP2C9, CYP3A4, CYP1A2 expression were associated with the resistance to sorafenib therapy. TIMER and CIBERSORT analysis indicated that the increase of DNM1L expression may affect the infiltration of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. Taken together, the above results indicated that DNM1L could be able to serve as a promising independent predictor and therapeutic target for HCC patients.