Regulatory patterns analysis of transcription factor binding site clustered regions and identification of key genes in endometrial cancer

Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the three fatal tumors of the female reproductive system. Epigenetic alterations have been reported to be important in tumorigenesis, especially the chromatin accessibility changes and transcription factor binding differences. However, the regulatory mechanism underlying epigenetic alterations in EC development remains unclear. Here, we identified and characterized transcription factor binding site clustered regions (TFCRs) by integrating chromatin accessibility and transcription factor binding information. We totally identified 78,820 TFCRs and explored the relationship between TFCRs and regulatory elements, gene expression and mutation. Finally, we constructed a bioinformatic framework to identify candidate oncogenes and screened 13 candidate key genes, which may serve as potential diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets of EC. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology.

Automated summary

This study identified and characterized transcription factor binding site clustered regions (TFCRs) by analyzing chromatin accessibility and transcription factor binding information, and explored the relationship between TFCRs, regulatory elements, gene expression, and mutations. A bioinformatic framework was constructed to identify candidate oncogenes, and 13 candidate key genes were screened, which may serve as potential diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets for endometrial cancer.