Construction and validation of m6A RNA methylation regulators associated prognostic model for gastrointestinal cancer

Abstract

N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) RNA methylation is correlated with carcinogenesis and dynamically possessed through the m⁶A RNA methylation regulators. This paper aimed to explore 13 m⁶A RNA methylation regulators' role in gastrointestinal cancer (GIC) and determine the risk model and prognosis value of m⁶A RNA methylation regulators in GIC. We used several bioinformatics methods to identify the differential expression of m⁶A RNA methylation regulators in GIC, constructed a prognostic model, and carried out functional enrichment analysis. Eleven of 13 m⁶A RNA methylation regulators were differentially expressed in different clinicopathological characteristics of GIC, and m⁶A RNA methylation regulators were nearly associated with GIC. We constructed a risk model based on five m⁶A RNA methylation regulators (METTL3, FTO, YTHDF1, ZC3H13, and WTAP); the risk score is an independent prognosis biomarker. Moreover, the five m⁶A RNA methylation regulators can also forecast the 1-, 3- and 5-year overall survival through a nomogram. Furthermore, four hallmarks of oxidative phosphorylation, glycolysis, fatty acid metabolism, and cholesterol homoeostasis gene sets were significantly enriched in GIC. m⁶A RNA methylation regulators were related to the malignant clinicopathological characteristics of GIC and may be used for prognostic stratification and development of therapeutic strategies.