Genetic characteristics and prognostic implications of m1A regulators in pancreatic cancer

Studies have identified the methylation of N1 adenosine (m1A), an RNA modification, playing an important role in the progression of the tumorigenesis. The present study aimed to analyze the genetic characteristics and prognostic value of m1A regulators in pancreatic cancer. In the present study, data on gene mutations, single-nucleotide variants (SNVs), and copy number variation (CNV) were obtained from 363 patients with pancreatic cancer in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and survival analysis was performed using the logarithmic rank test and Cox regression model. The chi-squared test was used to examine the relationship between the changes in m1A regulatory factors and clinicopathological characteristics. And we used ICGC database to verify the reliability of prognostic markers. The results show that changes in m1A-regulating genes are related to clinical stage and that the expression of some m1A-regulating genes is positively correlated with CNV. In addition, the low expression of the ‘eraser’ gene ALKBH1 is related to the poor prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer, and its expression level has important clinical significance for patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). Mechanistically, ALKBH1 may participate in the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer through mTOR and ErbB signaling pathway. The expression of m1A-regulating genes can be used as a prognostic marker for pancreatic cancer. These findings provide valuable clues for us to understand the epigenetics of m1A in pancreatic cancer.