Prognostic and immunological significance of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in hepatocellular carcinoma based on multiple databases

BACKGROUND: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG) plays some roles in preventing liver disease progression to hepatocellular carcinoma. However, there is limited information about the function of PPARG of in hepatocellular carcinoma. This study aimed to determine the significance of PPARG in immunological response and as a biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma survival. METHODS: We investigated the expression, prognosis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes/Gene Ontology biological process enrichment, and immune significance of PPARG using data from three databases—The Cancer Genome Atlas, International Cancer Genome Consortium, and Gene Expression Omnibus—through bioinformatics analysis as well as experimental verification in proliferation function of PPARG in HepG2 cell. RESULTS: High PPARG expression in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues positively correlated with TP53 mutation, and predicted poor prognosis. The results of enrichment and immune infiltration showed that PPARG negatively correlated with the complement system and macrophage infiltration, and laboratory results support that PPARG regulate proliferation of HepG2 cell. CONCLUSIONS: PPARG is upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma and it correlates with a worse prognosis. Moreover, PPARG may play an important role in the cell proliferation, complement system and immune cell infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma.