{"paper_id":"467e2e1f-ed42-4c2b-9423-29e280214fbf","body_text":"mRNA Decapping Enzyme DCP2 Expression Correlates with Progression and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article mRNA Decapping Enzyme DCP2 Expression Correlates with Progression and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tianyi Huang, Jing Chen, Lu Zhang, Jiaying Zhang, Rui Wang, Cuihua Lu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6179499/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract mRNA decapping enzyme 2 (DCP2) is a key regulator of mRNA degradation, influencing RNA metabolism and gene expression. While implicated in various diseases, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study explores DCP2 as a potential biomarker for HCC through bioinformatics and experimental analyses. Public databases, including TCGA and GEPIA2, revealed significant DCP2 upregulation in HCC tissues, correlating with TNM staging, histological grading, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. Prognostic analysis confirmed high DCP2 expression as an indicator of poor overall survival (OS). Functional enrichment analyses linked DCP2 to cancer-associated pathways, including PI3K/Akt, Hippo signaling, cholesterol metabolism, and oxidative phosphorylation. Immune infiltration analysis showed significant correlations with tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs), suggesting a role in immune modulation. Experimental validation via Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) confirmed elevated DCP2 expression in HCC cell lines and tissues. These findings suggest that DCP2 promotes HCC progression through mRNA degradation, cancer-related signaling, and immune microenvironment regulation, making it a promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, as well as a potential therapeutic target. Biological sciences/Cancer/Gastrointestinal cancer/Liver cancer Biological sciences/Cancer/Gastrointestinal cancer/Liver cancer/Hepatocellular carcinoma DCP2 HCC Bioinformatics analysis Biomarker Prognosis Biological function Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files rawdata.zip Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 22 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 15 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 12 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 May, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 08 May, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 17 Apr, 2025 Editor invited by journal 18 Mar, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 07 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {\"props\":{\"pageProps\":{\"initialData\":{\"identity\":\"rs-6179499\",\"acceptedTermsAndConditions\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":false,\"archivedVersions\":[],\"articleType\":\"Article\",\"associatedPublications\":[],\"authors\":[{\"id\":455532214,\"identity\":\"ebb6f337-01f5-40e0-b569-eaead318ac2b\",\"order_by\":0,\"name\":\"Tianyi Huang\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Tianyi\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Huang\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":455532215,\"identity\":\"ce521300-614f-43a4-8fb5-41b59856beb0\",\"order_by\":1,\"name\":\"Jing Chen\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Jing\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Chen\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":455532216,\"identity\":\"63ed7578-cec3-4fca-ae36-2d10e1d5e88d\",\"order_by\":2,\"name\":\"Lu Zhang\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Lu\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Zhang\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":455532218,\"identity\":\"5f5e9bc7-8b8d-4458-8f30-63ae6a1dd3b5\",\"order_by\":3,\"name\":\"Jiaying Zhang\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Jiaying\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Zhang\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":455532221,\"identity\":\"fcc726fc-6c16-4df3-9fd7-ccfaa57c3d5b\",\"order_by\":4,\"name\":\"Rui Wang\",\"email\":\"\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University\",\"correspondingAuthor\":false,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Rui\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Wang\",\"suffix\":\"\"},{\"id\":455532223,\"identity\":\"c5e51d61-2caa-4d14-bbd0-7ecf8109eb5e\",\"order_by\":5,\"name\":\"Cuihua Lu\",\"email\":\"data:image/png;base64,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\",\"orcid\":\"\",\"institution\":\"Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University\",\"correspondingAuthor\":true,\"prefix\":\"\",\"firstName\":\"Cuihua\",\"middleName\":\"\",\"lastName\":\"Lu\",\"suffix\":\"\"}],\"badges\":[],\"createdAt\":\"2025-03-07 15:38:13\",\"currentVersionCode\":1,\"declarations\":\"\",\"doi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6179499/v1\",\"doiUrl\":\"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6179499/v1\",\"draftVersion\":[],\"editorialEvents\":[{\"content\":\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10308-3\",\"type\":\"published\",\"date\":\"2025-08-21T16:29:01+00:00\"}],\"editorialNote\":\"\",\"failedWorkflow\":false,\"files\":[{\"id\":89847179,\"identity\":\"ce0c5020-db90-41f2-864b-03eecfe63373\",\"added_by\":\"auto\",\"created_at\":\"2025-08-25 16:41:41\",\"extension\":\"pdf\",\"order_by\":1,\"title\":\"\",\"display\":\"\",\"copyAsset\":false,\"role\":\"manuscript-pdf\",\"size\":1300284,\"visible\":true,\"origin\":\"\",\"legend\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"filename\":\"1589889Manuscript.pdf\",\"url\":\"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6179499/v1_covered_81e64ca6-3dc5-4401-a8a5-175c01b59416.pdf\"},{\"id\":82571734,\"identity\":\"238a4e73-fe2b-4dba-9bfd-eb44c00a6a94\",\"added_by\":\"auto\",\"created_at\":\"2025-05-13 04:28:57\",\"extension\":\"zip\",\"order_by\":0,\"title\":\"\",\"display\":\"\",\"copyAsset\":false,\"role\":\"supplement\",\"size\":130822,\"visible\":true,\"origin\":\"\",\"legend\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"filename\":\"rawdata.zip\",\"url\":\"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6179499/v1/93c1a022d198182cc54126f4.zip\"}],\"financialInterests\":\"No competing interests reported.\",\"formattedTitle\":\"mRNA Decapping Enzyme DCP2 Expression Correlates with Progression and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma\",\"fulltext\":[],\"fulltextSource\":\"\",\"fullText\":\"\",\"funders\":[],\"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow\":false,\"hasManuscriptDocX\":false,\"hasOptedInToPreprint\":true,\"hasPassedJournalQc\":\"\",\"hasAnyPriority\":false,\"hideJournal\":false,\"highlight\":\"\",\"institution\":\"\",\"isAcceptedByJournal\":true,\"isAuthorSuppliedPdf\":true,\"isDeskRejected\":\"\",\"isHiddenFromSearch\":false,\"isInQc\":false,\"isInWorkflow\":false,\"isPdf\":true,\"isPdfUpToDate\":true,\"isWithdrawnOrRetracted\":false,\"journal\":{\"display\":true,\"email\":\"info@researchsquare.com\",\"identity\":\"scientific-reports\",\"isNatureJournal\":false,\"hasQc\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":false,\"externalIdentity\":\"scirep\",\"sideBox\":\"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)\",\"snPcode\":\"\",\"submissionUrl\":\"\",\"title\":\"Scientific Reports\",\"twitterHandle\":\"\",\"acdcEnabled\":true,\"dfaEnabled\":true,\"editorialSystem\":\"stoa\",\"reportingPortfolio\":\"Scientific Reports\",\"inReviewEnabled\":true,\"inReviewRevisionsEnabled\":true},\"keywords\":\"DCP2, HCC, Bioinformatics analysis, Biomarker, Prognosis, Biological function\",\"lastPublishedDoi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6179499/v1\",\"lastPublishedDoiUrl\":\"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6179499/v1\",\"license\":{\"name\":\"CC BY 4.0\",\"url\":\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\"},\"manuscriptAbstract\":\"mRNA decapping enzyme 2 (DCP2) is a key regulator of mRNA degradation, influencing RNA metabolism and gene expression. While implicated in various diseases, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study explores DCP2 as a potential biomarker for HCC through bioinformatics and experimental analyses. Public databases, including TCGA and GEPIA2, revealed significant DCP2 upregulation in HCC tissues, correlating with TNM staging, histological grading, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. Prognostic analysis confirmed high DCP2 expression as an indicator of poor overall survival (OS). Functional enrichment analyses linked DCP2 to cancer-associated pathways, including PI3K/Akt, Hippo signaling, cholesterol metabolism, and oxidative phosphorylation. Immune infiltration analysis showed significant correlations with tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs), suggesting a role in immune modulation. Experimental validation via Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) confirmed elevated DCP2 expression in HCC cell lines and tissues. These findings suggest that DCP2 promotes HCC progression through mRNA degradation, cancer-related signaling, and immune microenvironment regulation, making it a promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, as well as a potential therapeutic target.\",\"manuscriptTitle\":\"mRNA Decapping Enzyme DCP2 Expression Correlates with Progression and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma\",\"msid\":\"\",\"msnumber\":\"\",\"nonDraftVersions\":[{\"code\":1,\"date\":\"2025-05-13 04:28:52\",\"doi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6179499/v1\",\"editorialEvents\":[{\"type\":\"communityComments\",\"content\":0},{\"type\":\"decision\",\"content\":\"Revision requested\",\"date\":\"2025-05-22T16:01:31+00:00\",\"index\":\"\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"editorInvitedReview\",\"content\":\"\",\"date\":\"2025-05-15T13:17:57+00:00\",\"index\":\"hide\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"editorInvitedReview\",\"content\":\"\",\"date\":\"2025-05-12T17:46:38+00:00\",\"index\":\"hide\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"reviewerAgreed\",\"content\":\"199493592296487847509532225393040247226\",\"date\":\"2025-05-12T11:44:52+00:00\",\"index\":\"hide\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"reviewerAgreed\",\"content\":\"217840437652499098663390896801751345379\",\"date\":\"2025-05-08T17:08:15+00:00\",\"index\":\"hide\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"reviewersInvited\",\"content\":\"\",\"date\":\"2025-05-08T10:04:12+00:00\",\"index\":\"\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"editorAssigned\",\"content\":\"\",\"date\":\"2025-04-17T13:18:58+00:00\",\"index\":\"\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"editorInvited\",\"content\":\"\",\"date\":\"2025-03-18T05:23:12+00:00\",\"index\":\"\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"checksComplete\",\"content\":\"\",\"date\":\"2025-03-14T10:00:52+00:00\",\"index\":\"\",\"fulltext\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"submitted\",\"content\":\"Scientific Reports\",\"date\":\"2025-03-07T15:32:12+00:00\",\"index\":\"\",\"fulltext\":\"\"}],\"status\":\"published\",\"journal\":{\"display\":true,\"email\":\"info@researchsquare.com\",\"identity\":\"scientific-reports\",\"isNatureJournal\":false,\"hasQc\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":false,\"externalIdentity\":\"scirep\",\"sideBox\":\"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)\",\"snPcode\":\"\",\"submissionUrl\":\"\",\"title\":\"Scientific Reports\",\"twitterHandle\":\"\",\"acdcEnabled\":true,\"dfaEnabled\":true,\"editorialSystem\":\"stoa\",\"reportingPortfolio\":\"Scientific Reports\",\"inReviewEnabled\":true,\"inReviewRevisionsEnabled\":true}}],\"origin\":\"\",\"ownerIdentity\":\"d420ccae-b447-45ec-b51b-aea9840f445e\",\"owner\":[],\"postedDate\":\"May 13th, 2025\",\"published\":true,\"recentEditorialEvents\":[],\"rejectedJournal\":[],\"revision\":\"\",\"amendment\":\"\",\"status\":\"published-in-journal\",\"subjectAreas\":[{\"id\":48422738,\"name\":\"Biological sciences/Cancer/Gastrointestinal cancer/Liver cancer\"},{\"id\":48422739,\"name\":\"Biological sciences/Cancer/Gastrointestinal cancer/Liver cancer/Hepatocellular carcinoma\"}],\"tags\":[],\"updatedAt\":\"2025-08-25T16:32:02+00:00\",\"versionOfRecord\":{\"articleIdentity\":\"rs-6179499\",\"link\":\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10308-3\",\"journal\":{\"identity\":\"scientific-reports\",\"isVorOnly\":false,\"title\":\"Scientific Reports\"},\"publishedOn\":\"2025-08-21 16:29:01\",\"publishedOnDateReadable\":\"August 21st, 2025\"},\"versionCreatedAt\":\"2025-05-13 04:28:52\",\"video\":\"\",\"vorDoi\":\"10.1038/s41598-025-10308-3\",\"vorDoiUrl\":\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10308-3\",\"workflowStages\":[]},\"version\":\"v1\",\"identity\":\"rs-6179499\",\"journalConfig\":\"researchsquare\"},\"__N_SSP\":true},\"page\":\"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]\",\"query\":{\"redirect\":\"/article/rs-6179499\",\"identity\":\"rs-6179499\",\"version\":[\"v1\"]},\"buildId\":\"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7\",\"isFallback\":false,\"isExperimentalCompile\":false,\"dynamicIds\":[84888],\"gssp\":true,\"scriptLoader\":[]}","source_license":"CC-BY-4.0","license_restricted":false}