Identification of the LNC02362–EFNA5 axis as a Potential Prognosis Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Comprehensive Bioinformatics Analysis 

Background: and objectives: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors with a poor prognosis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are now considered as key gene expression regulators and play important roles in different types of cancer. This study aimed to identify potential lncRNAs and uncover vital molecular mechanisms guiding clinical therapy for HCC. Methods Based on four microarray datasets (GSE112613, GSE84004, GSE67260, and GSE101728) from the National Center for Biotechnology Information Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database of lncRNAs expression in patients with HCC, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), cell transfection, cell proliferation assay, scratch wound healing, transcriptome sequencing, and immunofluorescence assays were used to analyze the clinical value and molecular mechanism of LINC02362 in HCC. Results High LINC02362 expression was positively correlated with longer overall survival (OS) and exhibited excellent diagnostic accuracy, suggesting that LINC02362 may inhibit HCC progression. Increased LINC02362 expression in HCC cell lines (Hep 3B and Huh 7) after lentiviral infection, overexpression of LINC02362 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion and then transcriptome sequencing was performed. Potential molecular LINC02362 pathways in HCC were determined using ClusterProfiler R package in enrichment analyses. Protein–protein interaction networks (PPI) were used to screen hub genes. PPI networks and OS data confirmed that EFNA5 was a downstream target positively regulated by LINC02362. Conclusions The LINC02362–EFNA5 axis appears to inhibit HCC progression; thus, it can be used to diagnose, prognose, and treat HCC.