Comprehensive Analysis Identifies the PPAR-Targeted Genes Associated with Ovarian Cancer Prognosis and Tumor Microenvironment

Background. There is a significant role for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in the development of cancer. Nevertheless, the role of PPARs-related genes in ovarian cancer (OC) remains unclear. Methods. The open-accessed data used for analysis were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database, which was analyzed using the R software. Results. In our study, we comprehensively investigated the PPAR target genes in OC, including their biological role. Meanwhile, a prognosis signature consisting of eight PPAR target genes was established, including apolipoprotein A-V, UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2 family, polypeptide B4, TSC22 domain family, member 1, growth hormone inducible transmembrane protein, renin, dedicator of cytokinesis 4, enoyl CoA hydratase 1, peroxisomal (ECH1), and angiopoietin-like 4, which showed a good prediction efficiency. A nomogram was constructed by combining the clinical feature and risk score. Immune infiltration and biological enrichment analysis were applied to investigate the difference between high- and low-risk patients. Immunotherapy analysis indicated that low-risk patients might respond better to immunotherapy. Drug sensitivity analysis indicated that high-risk patients might respond better to bleomycin, nilotinib, pazopanib, pyrimethamine, and vinorelbine, yet worse to cisplatin and gefitinib. Furthermore, the gene ECH1 was selected for further analysis. Conclusions. Our study identified a prognosis signature that could effectively indicates patients survival. Meanwhile, our study can provide the direction for future studies focused on the PPARs in OC.

Automated summary

This study identified a prognosis signature consisting of PPAR target genes that can effectively predict patient survival in ovarian cancer. The findings of this study provide direction for future research on PPARs in ovarian cancer.