Expression of TAGLN2 gene in low-grade glioma and its correlation with prognoses of the patients by bioinformatic analysis

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression and signaling pathway of TAGLN2 gene in low-grade glioma (LGG), and the relation of its expression with prognoses of patients. Methods The expression of TAGLN2 gene in Oncomine and TCGA databases was analyzed by bioinformatics analysis. The TAGLN2-related protein-protein interaction network was mapped using STRING database, and the interacting protein coding genes involved in the network were enriched. According to the expression level of TAGLN2 gene in glioma, the patients were divided into high expression group and low expression group; the differences of overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) were compared between the two groups. Results The expression level of TAGLN2 gene was up-regulated in most of the tumors. The expression level of TAGLN2 gene in the tumors of LGG patients was obviously higher than that in the corresponding normal brain tissues. The missense mutation of TAGLN2 gene was analyzed in TCGA database, and 1.5% of TAGLN2 gene missense mutation occurred in glioma tissues. There were 51 nodes in TAGLN2-related protein-protein interaction network and 254 interaction relations, and the regional clustering index was 0.69. The network protein enrichment was obvious (P=1.0E-16). The proteins encoding and interacting with TAGLN2 gene were mainly concentrated in vesicles, extracellular matrix and cell membrane. Their molecular functions were mainly protein binding, iron binding and accounting binding; their biological processes were mainly concentrated in the regulation of biological functions, cell development and multicellular tissue processes. OS and DFS of TAGLN2 high expression group were significantly lower than those of low expression group (HR=2.7, HR=1.8, P 0.05). Conclusion TAGLN2 is highly expressed in LGG tissues and is associated with poor prognosis. Key words: TAGLN2 gene; Glioma; Bioinformatics analysis