Weighted gene coexpression network analysis identifies hub genes related to KRAS mutant lung adenocarcinoma

The aim of current study was to use Weighted Gene Coexpression Network Analysis (WGCNA) to identify hub genes related to the incidence and prognosis of KRAS mutant (MT) lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). We involved 184 stage IIB to IV LUAD samples and 59 normal lung tissue samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The R package “limma” was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). WGCNA and survival analyses were performed by R packages “WGCNA” and “survival,” respectively. The functional analyses were performed by R package “clusterProfiler” and GSEA software. Network construction and MCODE analysis were performed by Cytoscape_v3.6.1. Totally 2590 KRAS MT specific DEGs were found between LUAD and normal lung tissues, and 10 WGCNA modules were identified. Functional analysis of the key module showed the ribosome biogenesis related terms were enriched. We observed the expression of 8 genes were positively correlated to the worse survival of KRAS MT LUAD patients, the 7 of them were validated by Kaplan–Meier plotter database (kmplot.com/) (thymosin Beta 10 [TMSB10], ribosomal Protein S16 [RPS16], mitochondrial ribosomal protein L27 [MRPL27], cytochrome c oxidase subunit 6A1 [COX6A1], HCLS1-associated protein X-1 [HAX1], ribosomal protein L38 [RPL38], and ATP Synthase Membrane Subunit DAPIT [ATP5MD]). The GSEA analysis found mTOR and STK33 pathways were upregulated in KRAS MT LUAD (P < .05, false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.25). In summary, our study firstly used WGCNA to identify hub genes in the development of KRAS MT LUAD. The identified prognostic factors would be potential biomarkers in clinical use. Further molecular studies are required to confirm the mechanism of those genes in KRAS MT LUAD.