Aberrantly DNA Methylated-Differentially Expressed Genes in Pancreatic Cancer Through an Integrated Bioinformatics Approach

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the chief contributors to cancer related deaths on a global scale, with its diagnosis often associated with poor prognosis and high mortality. Accumulating literature continues to highlight the role of aberrant DNA methylation in relation to pancreatic cancer progression. Integrated bioinformatics approaches in the characterization of methylated-differentially expressed genes (MeDEGs) in pancreatic cancer were employed to enhance our understanding of the potential underlying molecular mechanisms of this cancer. We initially identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between 178 pancreatic cancer samples and 4 normal samples and differentially methylated genes (DMGs) based on 185 pancreatic cancer samples as well as 10 normal samples by analyzing RNA sequencing data in the TCGA database. Eventually, 31 MeDEGs including 5 hypomethylated/upregulated genes and 26 hypermethylated/downregulated genes were identified. Univariate Cox model and Kaplan-Meier method revealed that, among 31 MeDEGs, 5 hypermethylated/downregulated genes (ZNF804A, ZFP82, TRIM58, SOX17, and C12orf42) were correlated with poor survival of patients with pancreatic cancer. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis by GSEA 3.0 and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network revealed that these 5 MeDEGs were enriched in numerous cancer-related pathways in addition to interacting with each other, highlighting a significant role in the development of pancreatic cancer. Taken together, the key findings of the current study demonstrate that ZNF804A, ZFP82, TRIM58, SOX17, and C12orf42 are hypermethylated/downregulated genes in pancreatic cancer and may be associated, through their modulation of specific pathways, with unfavorable pancreatic cancer prognosis.