Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 2 pp 2895—2911

Identification of RNA-binding protein SNRPA1 for prognosis in prostate cancer

Penghui Yuan1, , Le Ling1, , Xintao Gao1, , Taotao Sun1, , Jianping Miao2, , Xianglin Yuan3, , Jihong Liu1, , Zhihua Wang1, , Bo Liu3, ,

  • 1 Department of Urology Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei, China
  • 2 Department of Geriatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
  • 3 Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei, China

Received: June 3, 2020       Accepted: October 20, 2020       Published: January 15, 2021      

https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.202387
How to Cite

Copyright: © 2021 Yuan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Prostate cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in men. RNA-binding proteins play a critical role in human cancers; however, whether they have a significant effect on the prognosis of prostate cancer has yet to be elucidated. In the present study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of RNA sequencing and clinical data from the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset and obtained differentially expressed RNA-binding proteins between prostate cancer and benign tissues. We constructed a protein-protein interaction network and Cox regression analyses were conducted to identify prognostic hub RNA-binding proteins. SNRPA1 was associated with the highest risk of poor prognosis and was therefore selected for further analysis. SNRPA1 expression was positively correlated with Gleason score and pathological TNM stage in prostate cancer patients. Furthermore, the expression profile of SNRPA1 was validated using the Oncomine, Human Protein Atlas, and Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia databases. Meanwhile, the prognostic profile of SNRPA1 was successfully verified in GSE70769. Additionally, the results of molecular experiments revealed the proliferative role of SNRPA1 in prostate cancer cells. In summary, our findings evidenced a relationship between RNA-binding proteins and prostate cancer and indicated the prognostic significance of SNRPA1 in prostate cancer.

Abbreviations

AR: androgen receptor; CCLE: Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia; DFS: disease-free survival; FDR: false discovery rate; GEO: Gene Expression Omnibus; GSEA: Gene Set Enrichment Analysis; GO: Gene Ontology; HR: hazard ratio; HPA: Human Protein Atlas; KEGG: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; OS: overall survival; PCa: Prostate cancer; PPI: protein-protein interaction; RBPs: RNA-binding proteins; shRNA: short hairpin RNAs; TCGA: The Cancer Genome Atlas.