Comparative transcriptomic study on the ovarian cancer between chicken and human

Abstract Background The laying hen is the only spontaneous model of ovarian tumor. But no studies have systematically compared the molecular mechanisms of ovarian cancer in hens and women. Methods We performed RNA sequencing of nine chicken ovarian tumor samples and four normal ovarian samples, which has been deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus under accession number GSE246604. Together with five public datasets (GSE21706, GSE40376, GSE18520, GSE27651, GSE66957), we conducted a comparative transcriptomics study. Results In our RNA-seq data, a total of 549 and 2654 differentially expressed genes were identified in early-stage ovarian cancer vs. normal and late-stage ovarian cancer vs. normal, respectively. And molecular signals from nine cancer hallmarks, twenty-five KEGG pathways, and three hundred and sixty-nine GO pathways exhibited abnormalities in ovarian cancer compared to normal ovaries. In the comparative transcriptomics analysis, we have uncovered the conservation of eighty-one pathways between chicken and human using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Moreover, a total of one hundred seventy-four genes were identified for the core enrichment of these pathways. Conclusions We are the first to report the differential expression profiles of ovarian cancer in early and late stages in domestic chickens, which contributes to our understanding of the development of ovarian cancer in domestic chickens. Through comparative transcriptome analysis, we also disclosed for the first time molecular pathways and core genes of ovarian cancer shared between hens and women, which informs model animal studies and gene-targeted drug development.