Bioinformatics analysis of programmed death protein-1 related genes in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To screen the genes and biological pathways related to programmed death protein 1 (PD-1) in hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods Download from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) of 369 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) data, the PD-1 gene ontology (GO) to biological processes analysis, Kyoto encyclopedia (KEGG) signaling pathway gene and genome analysis, and construction of protein-protein interaction network diagram (PPI), key target genes for PD -1, and target genes for survival analysis. Results Altogether 174 PD-1 related genes were screened. Functional enrichment analysis showed that these genes involved 239 biological processes, 12 cell components and 12 molecular functions. These genes were mainly involved in T cell activation and regulation, immune deficiency, T cell proliferation and so on. At the same time, 10 key genes related to pd-1 in HCC were selected, and the low expression of ZAP70 and FASLG was significantly correlated with the poor prognosis of HCC (0.137±0.118 vs.0.377±0.083, 0.204±0.156 vs. 0.284±0.106, χ2=6.900, 4.400, P<0.05). Conclusion PD-1 gene provides a new breakthrough point for immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma. Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Programmed death protein 1; Bioinformatics; Cancer genome atlas