Comprehensive bioinformatics analysis for MEF2 family genes in gastric cancer

BACKGROUND: MEF2 family was associated with the pathogenesis of cancers. The crucial roles of MEF2 family members in gastric cancer (GC) have been demonstrated. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. METHODS: Our study profiles the variance of four MEF2 genes in GC from genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptome angles. Iterative weight gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to identify the MEF2-related module and hub genes. enrichment analysis was conducted for MEF2-related hub genes using Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). RESULTS: the transcriptome level of MEF2 genes were dysregulated in GC patients. The overall copy number status for MEF2 genes is copy number gain except for MEF2C with copy number loss. Besides, we screened out two sets of MEF2 related hub genes that enrichment analysis separates them into “intranuclear set” and “extracellular set”. By analyzing the “intranuclear set”, we screened out 6 miRNAs and 5 miRNA modulators that co-expressed with the MEF2 family and prognostic significance. CONCLUSIONS: our study investigated the variance of MEF2 family genes in the aspect of transcriptome and genomic and its clinical relevance. We found two sets of MEF2-related genes with different biological functions and 6 miRNAs targeting the MEF2 genes. Further research is required for validation and clarifying the deep underlying mechanism.