Bioinformatics analysis of FOS expression, prognostic value, and biological significance in breast cancer

Nguyen Thanh Thuy, Nguyễn Tu Anh, Nguyen Hoang Anh Duy, Quang Trong Minh

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the expression profile, prognostic relevance, and potential biological significance of FOS in breast cancer using publicly available datasets and bioinformatics tools, including TCGA-BRCA, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, bc-GenExMiner, GeneMANIA, STRING, DAVID, and miRmap. FOS expression was markedly lower at the mRNA level in primary breast cancer tissues compared with normal breast tissues, and its expression varied according to disease stage and breast cancer subtype. Survival analyses showed that higher FOS expression was associated with better clinical outcomes, including relapse-free and distant metastasis-free survival. Network analyses indicated that FOS/c-Fos was closely connected with members of the JUN/FOS family and the AP-1 transcription factor complex. Functional enrichment analyses indicated that FOS/FOS-related genes/proteins were enriched in transcriptional regulation, estrogen-related signaling, MAPK signaling pathways, and stress responses. In addition, hsa-miR-221-3p and hsa-miR-222-3p were predicted to potentially regulate FOS post-transcriptionally. Overall, FOS may represent a potential biomarker candidate in breast cancer. However, the current findings are mainly based on mRNA-level data and retrospective bioinformatics analyses, and therefore require further validation using protein-level data, multivariable clinical models, and experimental studies.

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References

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