Ubiquitin-related molecular classification and risk stratification of hepatocellular carcinoma

• Main Authors: Si Yang, Bowen Yao, Liming Wu, Yuanxing Liu, Kang Liu, Peng Xu, Yi Zheng, Yujiao Deng, Zhen Zhai, Ying Wu, Na Li, Dai Zhang, Huafeng Kang, Zhijun Dai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-06-01
• Series: Molecular Therapy: Oncolytics
• Subjects: hepatocellular carcinoma; molecular subtype; risk stratification; ubiquitin-related genes; ubiquitination
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S237277052100053X

The roles of ubiquitin-related genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to systematically examine ubiquitin-related genes and identify subtypes and stratify prognosis of HCC by using ubiquitin-related signatures. Survival, biological processes, tumor microenvironment (TME), and genomic alterations of the HCC subtypes were investigated. Patients with HCC were classified into two subtypes (clusters 1 and 2) with distinct survival outcomes, pathways, and genomic alterations. Cluster 2 had better prognosis than did cluster 1. Hepatitis B, hepatitis C, Janus tyrosine kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway, and natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity were enriched in cluster 1. Moreover, cluster 2 had a higher immune score and immune cell infiltrations, whereas cluster 1 had a lower immune score and immune infiltrations. Additionally, mutations, amplifications, and deletions among the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT, p53, and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)-RAS pathways more frequently occurred in cluster 1, while those among the Hippo, MYC, and Notch signaling pathways were found in cluster 2. Finally, a prognostic signature, consisting of eight ubiquitin-related genes, was established and validated. In brief, our study established a new classification and developed a prognostic signature for HCC.