AUTHOR=Shih Ming-Lang , Lawal Bashir , Cheng Sheng-Yao , Olugbodi Janet O. , Babalghith Ahmad O , Ho Ching-Liang , Cavalu Simona , Batiha Gaber El-Saber , Albogami Sarah , Alotaibi Saqer S. , Lee Jih-Chin , Wu Alexander T. H. TITLE=Large-scale transcriptomic analysis of coding and non-coding pathological biomarkers, associated with the tumor immune microenvironment of thyroid cancer and potential target therapy exploration JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2022.923503 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2022.923503 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=
Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most prevalent endocrine malignancy with a steadily increasing global incidence in recent decades. The pathogenesis of PTC is poorly understood, and the present diagnostic protocols are deficient. Thus, identifying novel prognostic biomarkers to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of pathogenesis, diagnosis, and designing therapeutic strategies for PTC is crucial. In this study, we integrated 27 PTC transcriptomic datasets and identified overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed microRNAs, collectively known as thyroid tumor-enriched proteins (TTEPs), and TTEmiRs, respectively. Our integrated bioinformatics analysis revealed that TTEPs were associated with tumor stages, poor surgical outcomes, distant metastasis, and worse prognoses in PTC cohorts. In addition, TTEPs were found to be associated with tumor immune infiltrating cells and immunosuppressive phenotypes of PTC. Enrichment analysis suggested the association of TTEPs with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell-matrix remodeling, and transcriptional dysregulation, while the TTEmiRs (miR-146b-5p and miR-21-5p) were associated with the modulation of the immune response, EMT, migration, cellular proliferation, and stemness. Molecular docking simulations were performed to evaluate binding affinities between TTEPs and antrocinnamomin, antcin, and antrocin, the bioactive compounds from one of the most reputable Taiwan indigenous medicinal plants (