Analysis of the Prognostic Value of CERK in Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma Based on Bioinformatics

Peng Liang; Cao Baodi; Chen Jie

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-5775.2025.04.002

Abstract：Objective:To evaluate the prognostic significance of CERK in ovarian epithelial carcinoma using integrated bioinformatics analysis.Methods:The gene expression profile data and clinical information of epithelial ovarian cancer were downloaded and sorted through GEO database and TCGA database.The differentially expressed genes in GSE26712 dataset were screened using limma package in R/Bioconductor.GO and signaling pathway enrichment analysis of differential genes was performed using clusterProfiler,hub genes were screened using Cytoscape3.8.2 and PPI networks were constructed.Kaplan-Meier curve was used to analyze the relationship between the expression of CERK in ovarian cancer tissues and the prognosis of overall survival of patients.GSEA analyzed the signaling pathways that CERK might be involved in,and predicted the transcription factors and miRNAs of CERK using line software and Targetscan,miRWalk,and miRDB databases,respectively.The expression of CERK gene in epithelial ovarian cancer and its adjacent tissues was detected by RT-qPCR.Results:GSE26712 dataset obtained 1 535 differentially expressed genes in epithelial ovarian cancer,including 945 down-regulated genes and 590 up-regulated genes.KEGG revealed the enrichment of several signaling pathways,including PI3K-Akt,Ras and Rapl.20 hub genes,including CERK,were screened.CERK expression was related to overall survival in ovarian cancer and was also a significant predictor of survival in women with epithelial ovarian cancer.GSEA identified CERK signatures related to tumor cell migration and invasion.The number of transcription factors and miRNAs targeting CERK were 31 and 46,respectively.miR-187 expression levels in tumor tissues were strongly related to the prognosis of patients with ovarian cancer.Expression of the CERK gene was upregulated in epithelial ovarian cancer relative to paraneoplastic tissue.Conclusion:CERK expression in ovarian cancer is tightly correlated with poor prognosis,providing a new idea to explore the molecular mechanisms involved in ovarian cancer development and identify effective tumor biomarkers.