Co-Expression Network Analysis Identified Genes Associated with Cancer Stem Cell Characteristics in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective: Cancer stem cells are self-renewal cells in tumors and can produce heterogeneous tumor cells, which play an important role in the development of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). In our research, we aimed to explore the expression of genes related to LSCC stem cells.

Methods: We downloaded the RNAseq data, the pathological and prognostic profiles of LSCC cases from the public database TCGA. The mRNA expression-based stiffness index (mRNAsi) of LSCC was calculated and the prognostic value of mRNAsi was discussed. Then, we constructed a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to screen key genes related to mRNAsi of LSCC.

Results: MRNAsi is an independent prognostic factor in LSCC. We screened 5 key genes (BUB1, BIRC5, CCNB2, KIF15 and SPAG5) related to mRNAsi of LSCC based on WGCNA. The key genes were highly expressed in the tumor samples compared to the normal samples. In addition, there is a strong interaction between proteins of these key genes and a strong co-expression relationship at the transcriptional level.

Conclusions: To conclude, mRNAsi play an important role in LSCC. Five key genes (BUB1, BIRC5, CCNB2, KIF15 and SPAG5) related to mRNAsi were screened, which may act as therapeutic targets for inhibiting the stem cell characteristics of LSCC.