RNA-Seq Profiling Revealed PBMC RNA as Potential Biomarker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma with extremely high morbidity and mortality is one of the most common malignant tumors. Although many existing studies focus on the study of its biomarkers, little information has been released on the PBMC RNA profile of hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: : We tried to make a profile throughout this analysis with the expression of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) RNA by using RNA-seq technology and compared the transcriptome between hepatocellular carcinoma patients and the healthy controls. 17 patients and 17 healthy controls involved in this study, PBMCs RNA were sequenced. The sequencing data were analyzed with bioinformatics tools and qRT-PCR was used for selected differential expressed gene validation. Results: : It is showed that 1578 dysregulated genes found including 1334 upregulated genes and 244 downregulated genes. GO enrichment and KEGG studies showed that hepatocellular carcinoma is a closely linked source of the most differentially expressed genes (DEGs), implicated in the immune response. Expression of the 6 selected genes (SELENBP1, SLC4A1, SLC26A8, HSPA8P4, CALM1, and RPL7p24) were confirmed by qRT-PCR, and higher sensitivity and specificity obtained by ROC analysis of the 6 genes. CALM1 was found gradually decreasing along with the tumor enlarged. Conclusions: : It is suggested potential biomarker for diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinomas. This study provided new perspectives for liver cancer development and possible future successful clinical diagnosis.