ZNF76 predicts prognosis and response to platinum chemotherapy in human ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer (OV) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. One major reason of the high mortality of the disease is due to platinum-based chemotherapy resistance. Increasing evidence reveal the important biological functions and clinical significance of zinc finger proteins (ZNFs) in OV. In the present study, the relationship between the zinc finger protein 76 (ZNF76) and clinical outcome and platinum resistance in patients with OV was explored. We further analyzed ZNF76 expression via multiple gene expression databases and identified its functional networks using cBioPortal. RT-qPCR and IHC assay shown that the ZNF76 mRNA and protein expression were significantly lower in OV tumor than that in normal ovary tissues. A strong relationship between ZNF76 expression and platinum resistance was determined in patients with OV. The low expression of ZNF76 was associated with worse survival in OV. Multivariable analysis showed that the low expression of ZNF76 was an independent factor predicting poor outcome in OV. The prognosis value of ZNF76 in pan-cancer was validated from multiple cohorts using the PrognoScan database and GEPIA 2. A gene-clinical nomogram was constructed by multivariate cox regression analysis, combined with clinical characterization and ZNF76 expression in TCGA. Functional network analysis suggested that ZNF76 was involved in several biology progressions which associated with OV. Ten hub genes (CDC5L, DHX16, SNRPC, LSM2, CUL7, PFDN6, VARS, HSD17B8, PPIL1, and RGL2) were identified as positively associated with the expression of ZNF76 in OV. In conclusion, ZNF76 may serve as a promising prognostic-related biomarker and predict the response to platinum in OV patients.