TY - EJOU AU - ZHENG, HAOSHENG AU - LIN, RUIJUN AU - CAI, WEIJIE AU - ZHENG, YUZHEN AU - YANG, XINGPING AU - LIU, ZUI AU - QIN, FEI AU - CAI, YONGJIE AU - QIN, XIANYU AU - LIAO, HONGYING TI - Analysis of functional hub genes indicates DLGAP5 is linked to lung adenocarcinoma prognosis T2 - BIOCELL PY - 2023 VL - 47 IS - 11 SN - 1667-5746 AB - Introduction: The difficulty in treating lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is caused by a shortage of knowledge about the biological mechanisms and a lack of treatment choices. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify a valuable molecular target for the treatment of LUAD. Methods: Using multiple databases, we screened for hub genes in LUAD using Cytoscape and explored the expression and prognosis of DLG associated protein 5 (DLGAP5) in LUAD. We investigated the genetic variation, functional enrichment, and epigenetic activity of DLGAP5. Furthermore, we evaluated the relationship between the tumor microenvironment (TME) and DLGAP5. Results: Our study identified 10 hub genes in LUAD: CDC45, KIAA0101, DLGAP5, CDT1, NCAPG, CCNB1, CDCA5, CDC20, KIF11, and AURKA. We discovered that DLGAP5 was overexpressed and associated with poor prognosis in LUAD. DLGAP5 exhibited an overall genetic variation frequency of 2%, and its DNA promoter was hypomethylated in LUAD (p < 0.05). The expression of DLGAP5 in LUAD showed a positive correlation with the majority of N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-methylation genes. Additionally, DLGAP5 was primarily associated with the cell cycle in LUAD. Notably, there was a significant favorable association between DLGAP5 and CD274, CTLA4, HAVCR2, and LAG3 in LUAD. Conclusion: DLGAP5 may be a therapeutic target for LUAD, as it affects cancer cells proliferation and development through the regulation of cell-cycle checkpoints and modulation of immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoints in the TME. KW - DLGAP5; Lung adenocarcinoma; Prognosis; Tumor microenvironment; Hub genes DO - 10.32604/biocell.2023.030032