Open Access

ARTICLE

Systematic analysis of DNA polymerases as therapeutic targets in pan-cancers

ZHENHUA LI¹, HUILAI LV¹, FAN ZHANG¹, ZIMING ZHU², QIANG GUO³, MINGBO WANG¹, CHAO HUANG¹, LIJUAN CHEN⁴, WENPAN ZHANG⁴, YUN LI^5,*, ZIQIANG TIAN^1,*

1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050011, China
2 Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Hospital of Xingtai, Xingtai, 054001, China
3 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding, 050017, China
4 Shanghai OrigiMed Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 200000, China
5 Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, 518107, China

* Corresponding Authors: YUN LI. Email: ; ZIQIANG TIAN. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bioinformatics Study of Diseases)

BIOCELL 2024, 48(1), 123-138. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2023.031568

Received 13 July 2023; Accepted 20 November 2023; Issue published 30 January 2024

Abstract

Introduction: DNA polymerases are crucial for maintaining genome stability and influencing tumorigenesis. However, the clinical implications of DNA polymerases in tumorigenesis and their potential as anti-cancer therapy targets are not well understood. Methods: We conducted a systematic analysis using TCGA Pan-Cancer Atlas data and Gene Set Cancer Analysis results to examine the expression profiles of 15 DNA polymerases (POLYs) and their clinical correlations. We also evaluated the prognostic value of POLYs by analyzing their expression levels in relation to overall survival time (OS) using Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Additionally, we investigated the correlations between POLY expression and immune cells, DNA damage repair (DDR) pathways, and ubiquitination. Drug sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the relationship between POLY expression and drug response. Results: Our analysis revealed that 14 out of 15 POLYs exhibited significantly distinct expression patterns between tumor and normal samples across most cancer types, except for DNA nucleotidylexotransferase (DNTT). Specifically, POLD1 and POLE showed elevated expression in almost all cancers, while POLQ exhibited high expression levels in all cancer types. Some POLYs showed heightened expression in specific cancer subtypes, while others exhibited low expression. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated significant prognostic value of POLYs in multiple cancers, including PAAD, KIRC, and ACC. Cox analysis further validated these findings. Alteration patterns of POLYs varied significantly among different cancer types and were associated with poorer survival outcomes. Significant correlations were observed between the expression of POLY members and immune cells, DDR pathways, and ubiquitination. Drug sensitivity analysis indicated an inverse relationship between POLY expression and drug response. Conclusion: Our comprehensive study highlights the significant role of POLYs in cancer development and identifies them as promising prognostic and immunological biomarkers for various cancer types. Additionally, targeting POLYs therapeutically holds promise for tumor immunotherapy.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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