The transcription levels and prognostic values of seven proteasome alpha subunits in human cancers

// Yunhai Li 1, 2 , Jing Huang 1 , Jiazheng Sun 1 , Shili Xiang 1 , Dejuan Yang 1, 2 , Xuedong Ying 1, 2 , Mengqi Lu 1 , Hongzhong Li 1, 2 , Guosheng Ren 1, 2 1 Chongqing Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Epigenetics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China 2 Department of Endocrine and Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China Correspondence to: Hongzhong Li, email: tibetlhz@126.com Guosheng Ren, email: rengs726@126.com Keywords: proteasome alpha subunits, cancer, oncomine, TCGA, Kaplan-Meier plotter Received: June 19, 2016      Accepted: December 01, 2016      Published: December 10, 2016 ABSTRACT Proteasome alpha subunits (PSMAs) have been shown to participate in the malignant progression of human cancers. However, the expression patterns and prognostic values of individual PSMAs remain elusive in most cancers. In the present study, we investigated the mRNA expression levels of seven PSMAs in different kinds of cancers using Oncomine and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. The prognostic significance of PSMAs was also determined by Kaplan-Meier Plotter and PrognScan databases. Combined with Oncomine and TCGA, the mRNA expression levels of PSMA1-7 were significantly upregulated in breast, lung, gastric, bladder and head and neck cancer compared with normal tissues. Moreover, only PSMA6 and PSMA5 were not overexpressed in colorectal and kidney cancer, respectively. In survival analyses based on Kaplan-Meier Plotter, PSMA1-7 showed significant prognostic values in breast, lung and gastric cancer. Furthermore, potential correlations between PSMAs and survival outcomes were also observed in ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer and melanoma by Kaplan-Meier Plotter and PrognScan. These data indicated that PSMAs might serve as novel biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for multiple human cancers. However, further studies are needed to explore the detailed biological functions and molecular mechanisms involved in tumor progression.