The minichromosome maintenance (MCM) gene family comprises of ten members with key roles in eukaryotic DNA replication and are associated with the occurrence and progression of many tumors. However, whether the MCM family contributes to lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is unclear. In this study, we performed bioinformatic analysis to identify the roles of MCM genes in patients with LUSC. We also evaluated their differential gene expression, prognostic correlation, DNA methylation, functional enrichment of genetic alterations, and immunomodulation. According to the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource database, the expression of MCM2-10 mRNA was elevated in LUSC tissues. According to the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database, MCM2-8 and MCM10 were considerably upregulated in LUSC tissues, and protein levels of all MCMs were increased in LUSC tissues. In addition, among the MCM family members, the expression of MCM3 and MCM7 showed the strongest correlation with the prognoses of patients with LUSC. To clarify the role and mechanisms of the MCM family, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology enrichment studies were performed. We detected a significant correlation between the expression patterns of MCM family members and infiltrating immune cells. In conclusion, our results improve the understanding of the aberrant expression of MCM family members in LUSC. These findings demonstrate the potential of the MCM family as therapeutic targets and biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of LUSC.

To investigate the possible diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), an integrated study of accumulated data was conducted to obtain more reliable information and more feasible measures. Using the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER), University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer Data Analysis Portal (UALCAN), Human Protein Atlas (HPA), Kaplan-Meier plotter database, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA2) database, cBioPortal, and Metascape, we analyzed the expression profiles and prognoses of six members of the GATA family in patients with KIRC. Compared to normal samples, KIRC samples showed significantly lower GATA2/3/6 mRNA and protein expression levels. KIRC's pathological grades, clinical stages, and lymph node metastases were closely related to GATA2 and GATA5 levels. Patients with KIRC and high GATA2 and GATA5 expression had better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS), while those with higher expression of GATA3/4/6 had worse outcomes. The role and underlying mechanisms of the GATA family in cell cycle, cell proliferation, metabolic processes, and other aspects were evaluated based on Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analyses. Furthermore, we found that infiltrating immune cells were highly correlated with GATA expression profiles. These results showed that GATA family members may serve as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for KIRC.

The lncRNA tumor suppressor candidate 8 (TUSC8) plays a critical role in the development of several cancers. However, the biological functions and underlying molecular mechanisms of TUSC8 with respect to breast cancer remain largely unclear. Here, we found that TUSC8 was significantly down-regulated in breast cancer tissues and its high expression predicted better prognosis of breast cancer patients. Functionally, knock-down of TUSC8 drastically promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of breast cancer cells in vitro and facilitated tumorigenicity and metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, the results of luciferase reporter, RIP and RNA pull-down assays proved that TUSC8 functioned as molecular sponge for miR-190b-5p. Furthermore, we showed that TUSC8 served as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) of myosin regulatory light chain interacting protein (MYLIP) through competitively binding with miR-190b-5p and suppressed breast cancer metastasis through regulating the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related markers. Clinically, the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses revealed that the combination usage of TUSC8 and MYLIP might become novel promising diagnostic biomarkers for breast cancer. Taken together, these results suggested that TUSC8 inhibited breast cancer growth and metastasis via miR-190b-5p/MYLIP axis, providing us new insights into developing potential therapeutic targets for breast cancer patients.