Expression of HELQ and EGR3 as Prognostic Biomarkers for CLL
Posted: Wednesday, March 24, 2021
The mutation status of IGHV is a prognostic biomarker for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Guo et al, of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, conducted a study to investigate the transcriptomic signatures associated with IGHV mutation status and CLL prognosis. Their results were published in the Journal of Translational Medicine.
“The expression of HELQ and EGR3 was correlated with IGHV mutation status in CLL patients,” the investigators remarked. “Additionally, the expression of HELQ/EGR3 was a prognostic marker for CLL associating with targetable cell-signaling pathways.”
The investigators analyzed the expression matrix and clinical and genetic data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database repository. Using weighted gene co-expression network analysis, the investigators identified two co-expression modules and nine hub genes that seemed to be correlated with IGHV mutation status: FCRL1, FCRL2, HELQ, EGR3, LPL, LDOC1, ZNF667, SOWAHC, and SEPTIN10. According to the investigators, the modules appeared to be enriched in nuclear factor kappa B, HIF-1, and other pathways involving cell proliferation and apoptosis. The expression levels of hub genes seemed to differ between CLL leukemic cells and normal B cells significantly; these levels also significantly differed across various types of lymphoid neoplasms.
HELQ expression seemed to be significantly associated with response to immunochemotherapy treatment (P = .0413); the expression levels of HELQ and ZNF667 appeared to significantly differ between patients with stable CLL and those with Richter syndrome (P < .0001 and P = .0278, respectively). In the GSE39671 (P = .0311) and GSE22762 (P = .0135) data sets, EGR3 expression seemed to be significantly associated with the duration of time to first treatment. The expression of HELQ and EGR3 appeared to be associated with overall survival (P = .0291 and .0114, respectively). Based on gene set enrichment analysis, the KRAS, Hedgehog, and IL-6/JAK/STAT3 pathways seemed to be associated with the expression of hub genes.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
