Expression of MCMs in Endometrial Cancer and its Biological Correlation Analysis

Purpose: Minichromosome maintenance (MCM) has been demonstrated to be involved in tumorigenesis and pathogenesis of many cancer types. However, the role of MCMs in endometrial cancer (EC) has not been elucidated. Materials and Methods: We first employed GEPIA, cBioPortal, and R software to perform the differential expression analysis, survival analysis, and gene alteration analysis of the MCMs family. Then, GSE17025 and GSE63678 datasets and CTPAC were used to verify the mRNA and protein expression levels of MCM4. In addition, the internal mechanism of the MCM4 was investigated by comparing MCM4 expression-correlated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from GEPIA and MCM4-interacted genes from STRING. Last, Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed to identify MCM4-related biological processes. Results: Compared with normal tissues, only MCM2 and MCM4 expression were significantly upregulated in EC tissues. High expression of MCM4 was related to worse clinicopathological features and poor prognosis in EC cohorts. Additionally, a certain degree of gene alterations in the MCM2-7 gene was observed. By comparing MCM4 expression-correlated DEGs and MCM4- interacted genes, six genes were obtained: SSRP1, ORC1, GINS1, CDK2, DBF4 and GINS3. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that MCM4 may be involved in regulating the biological processes of DNA replication and the p53 signaling pathway. Conclusion: This was the first comprehensive study to disclose the biological effects of MCMs in EC, indicating that MCM4 could be used as a new prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for EC.