Integrative analysis of the common genetic characteristics in ovarian cancer stem cells sorted by multiple approaches

• Main Authors: Xiaoxiao Zhang, Yue Su, Xue Wu, Rourou Xiao, Yifan Wu, Bin Yang, Zhen Wang, Lili Guo, Xiaoyan Kang, Changyu Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2020-09-01
• Series: Journal of Ovarian Research
• Subjects: Bioinformatic analysis; Ovarian cancer; Ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs); Cancer stem cells markers; Differentially expressed genes (DEGs); Therapeutic targets
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13048-020-00715-7

Abstract Background Ovarian cancer is the second fatal malignancy of the female reproductive system. Based on the cancer stem cell (CSC) theory, its poor prognosis of ovarian cancer attributed to tumor recurrence caused by CSCs. A variety of cell surface-specific markers have been employed to identify ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs). In this study, we attempted to explore the common feature in ovarian cancer stem cells sorted by multiple approaches. Methods We collected the gene expression profiles of OCSCs were from 5 public cohorts and employed R software and Bioconductor packages to establish differently expressed genes (DEGs) between OCSCs and parental cells. We extracted the integrated DEGs by protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction and explored potential treatment by the Cellminer database. Results We identified and integrated the DEGs of OCSCs sorted by multiple isolation approaches. Besides, we identified OCSCs share characteristics in the lipid metabolism and extracellular matrix changes. Moreover, we obtained 16 co-expressed core genes, such as FOXQ1, MMP7, AQP5, RBM47, ETV4, NPW, SUSD2, SFRP2, IDO1, ANPEP, CXCR4, SCNN1A, SPP1 and IFI27 (upregulated) and SERPINE1, DUSP1, CD40, and IL6 (downregulated). Through correlation analysis, we screened out ten potential drugs to target the core genes. Conclusion Based on the comprehensive analysis of the genomic datasets with different sorting methods of OCSCs, we figured out the common driving genes to regulating OCSC and obtained ten new potential therapies for eliminating ovarian cancer stem cells. Hence, the findings of our study might have potential clinical significance.