Identification of lung adenocarcinoma biomarkers based on bioinformatic analysis and human samples

Lung adenocarcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. Although efforts have been made to clarify its pathology, the underlying molecular mechanisms of lung adenocarcinoma are still not clear. The microarray datasets GSE75037, GSE63459 and GSE32863 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to identify biomarkers for effective lung adenocarcinoma diagnosis and therapy. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by GEO2R, and function enrichment analyses were conducted using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO). The STRING database and Cytoscape software were used to construct and analyze the protein-protein interaction network (PPI). We identified 376 DEGs, consisting of 83 upregulated genes and 293 downregulated genes. Functional and pathway enrichment showed that the DEGs were mainly focused on regulation of cell proliferation, the transforming growth factor β receptor signaling pathway, cell adhesion, biological adhesion, and responses to hormone stimulus. Sixteen hub genes were identified and biological process analysis showed that these 16 hub genes were mainly involved in the M phase, cell cycle phases, the mitotic cell cycle, and nuclear division. We further confirmed the two genes with the highest node degree, DNA topoisomerase IIα (TOP2A) and aurora kinase A (AURKA), in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines and human samples. Both these genes were upregulated and associated with larger tumor size. Upregulation of AURKA in particular, was associated with lymphatic metastasis. In summary, identification of the DEGs and hub genes in our research enables us to elaborate the molecular mechanisms underlying the genesis and progression of lung adenocarcinoma and identify potential targets for the diagnosis and treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.