Identifying breast cancer subtypes associated modules and biomarkers by integrated bioinformatics analysis

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer afflicting women worldwide. Patients with breast cancer of different molecular classifications need varied treatments. Since it is known that the development of breast cancer involves multiple genes and functions, identification of functional gene modules (clusters of the functionally related genes) is indispensable as opposed to isolated genes, in order to investigate their relationship derived from the gene co-expression analysis. In total, 6315 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were recognized and subjected to the co-expression analysis. Seven modules were screened out. The blue and turquoise modules have been selected from the module trait association analysis since the genes in these two modules are significantly correlated with the breast cancer subtypes. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment show that the blue module genes engaged in cell cycle, DNA replication, p53 signaling pathway, and pathway in cancer. According to the connectivity analysis and survival analysis, 8 out of 96 hub genes were filtered and have shown the highest expression in basal-like breast cancer. Furthermore, the hub genes were validated by the external datasets and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). In summary, hub genes of Cyclin E1 (CCNE1), Centromere Protein N (CENPN), Checkpoint kinase 1 (CHEK1), Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), DNA replication and sister chromatid cohesion 1 (DSCC1), Family with sequence similarity 64, member A (FAM64A), Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme E2 C (UBE2C) and Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme E2 T (UBE2T) may serve as the prognostic markers for different subtypes of breast cancer.