Integrated analysis of differentially expressed genes implicated in ovarian cancer progression

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a common gynecological malignancy associated with high morbidity and generally poor prognosis despite treatment. The aim of this study was to understand the influence of gene expression differences and pathways in OC development and progression.

One hundred and thirty-three OC samples and 34 normal ovarian tissues were included in the study from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. GeneSpring Software was used to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in all stages comparing tumor and normaltissue. DEGs were analyzed using the DAVID interface for Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis. Most most connected genes were selected as hub genes for each stage using the STRING application in Cytoscape software.

DEGs were found to be associated with cell cycle and herpes simplex virus infection pathways. A total of 19 genes (ACTB, AKT1, ALB, CTNNB1, EGFR, EP300, ESR1, FN1, GAPDH, HSPA4, IL6, JUN, MYC, PTEN, RPS27A, SRC, TNF, TP53 and UBC) were identified as hub genes. Among the hub genes, the TP53 gene was found to have the highest level of connections in all stages. EGFR, RPS27A, and AKT1 were found to have high numbers of connections in stages II, III, and IV, respectively.

The results of the current study may provide new insights into OC pathogenesis and suggest potential prognostic and therapeutic targets.