Prognostic value and potential molecular mechanism of the like-Sm gene family in early-stage pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of like-Sm (LSM) genes in early pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and explore the potential molecular mechanism. The protein product of the LSM1 gene is also known as CASM and YJL124C, while that of the LSM4 gene is known as GRP and YER112W. METHODS: Data from 112 patients attached to the Whipple surgery were collected from the TCGA database of clinical characteristics and survival data. The Kaplan-Meier method and the multivariate Cox proportional risk regression model were used to analyze the impact of LSM genes on outcomes in these 112 patients. We performed gene-gene interaction (GGI) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis to probe interactions between LSM family genes. Bioinformatics techniques were applied to study the potential early-stage molecular mechanisms of LSM genes. Previously, only a few studies have explored the role and potential mechanisms of LSM1 in pancreatic tumor transformation, revealing possible links to transforming growth factor-β, altering the expression of MMP1, uPAR, and SerpinB5 to enhance invasion and metastasis in pancreatic cancer, and facilitating mRNA decapping and degradation. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) also proved that LSM genes are associated with RNA splicing, RNA synthesis, and RNA decomposition, and they may indirectly cause carcinogenesis through other genes such as myc. RESULTS: The results showed that LSM1 (adjusted P=0.004) and LSM4 (adjusted P=0.034) were associated with the prognosis of patients with PDAC, and patients with high expression levels of LSM1 (adjusted HR =2.338) or LSM4 (adjusted HR =1.803) tended to experience bad outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that LSM1 and LSM4 might be used as prognostic biomarkers in early PDAC.