Identification of Differential Methylation Regions and Correspondence Targeted Genes in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract Background The differential methylation included hypermethylation and hypomethylation plays significant role in the progression of many kind of cancers but study little in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Methods GSE123781 and GSE87053 was used to analysis the differential methylation regions (DMRs) and predict the target genes in OSCC by R software and wANNOVAR respectively. the biological process and cell pathways of common targeted genes between GSE123781 and GSE87053 were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) enrichment analysis. The hub genes (hub genes 1) in common targeted genes associated with cancer biological process was identified by protein to protein interaction network (PPI). In addition, GSE74530 and GSE30784 was used to identify common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in OSCC by R software. The biological process and cell pathways of common DEGs was analyzed by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. The hub genes (hub genes 2) in common DEGs associated with cancer biological process was identified by PPI network. The significant hub genes between hub genes 1 and hub genes 2 were identified by Venn picture. Finally, the expression level of significant hub genes and correspondence relationship with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patient survival were confirmed by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Results There are 2146 common targeted genes regulated by DMRs between GSE123781 and GSE87053 and 278 hub genes in common targeted genes associated with cancer biological process. In addition, there are 895 common DEGs between GSE74530 and GSE30784 and 144 hub genes in common DEGs associated with cancer biological process. There are 9 significant hub genes between hub genes 1 and hub genes 2. Finally, these 9 significant hub genes differentially expressed in HNSCC tissues except CCR7 and quite associated with the survival of HNSCC patients. Conclusions CCR7, ETS1, RUNX3, CCR1, C3AR1, LAMB1, IRF7, LGALS3 and CDKN3 both are DEGs and regulated by DMRs in OSCC, which are quite associated with the progression of OSCC and the survival of HNSCC patients. All of these genes have much potential to be new biomarkers in targeted therapy of OSCC.