Investigation of genes and pathways involved in breast cancer subtypes through gene expression meta-analysis

Backgrounds: Breast cancer (BC) is a malignant disease with a high prevalence worldwide.Molecular-based studies have revealed heterogeneity in BC while also improving classificationand treatment. However, efforts are underway to distinguish between distinct subtypes of breastcancer. In this study, the results of several microarray studies were combined to identify genesand pathways specific to each BC subtype.Materials and Methods: Meta-analysis of multiple gene expression profile datasets wasscreened to find differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across subtypes of BC and normal breasttissue samples. Protein-protein interaction network and gene set enrichment analysis were usedto identify critical genes and pathways associated with BC subtypes.Results: We identified ۱۱۰ DEGs (۱۳ DEGs in all and ۹۷ DEGs in each subtype) acrosssubtypes of BC. All subtypes had a small set of shared DEGs enriched in the Chemokinereceptor bind chemokine pathway. Luminal A specific were enriched in the translationalelongation process in mitochondria, and the enhanced process in luminal B subtypes wasinterferon-alpha/beta signaling. Cell cycle and mitotic DEGs were enriched in the basal-likegroup. TMC۵ was the only DEG in the normal-like subtype.Conclusion: Integrating researches such as a meta-analysis of gene expression might be moreeffective in uncovering subtype-specific DEGs and pathways than a single-study analysis. Itwould be more beneficial to increase the number of studies that use matched BC subtypes alongwith GEO profiling approaches to reach a better result regarding DEGs and reduce probablebiases.

کلیدواژه ها:

breast cancer ، microarray ، BC subtype ، gene expression ، meta-analysis