Prognostic Significance of HMGA1 Expression in Lung Cancer Based on Bioinformatics Analysis

High-mobility group protein 1 (HMGA1) participates in the processes of DNA transcription, replication, recombination, and repair. The HMGA1 gene is expressed abundantly during embryogenesis and is reactivated during carcinogenesis. HMGA1 gene expression has been associated with a high degree of malignancy, metastatic tendency, and poor survival in breast, colon, ovary, and pancreatic cancers. However, its prognostic significance in lung cancer remains unclear. Using publicly available data, HMGA1 was shown to be overexpressed in both small and non-small lung tumors, with higher expression compared to both the adjacent non-malignant lung tissues and non-tumor lung tissues of healthy individuals. Elevated HMGA1 expression could result from lowered HMGA1 methylation and was connected with some clinicopathological features like sex, age, and stage of the disease. The high HMGA1 expression level was connected with shorter overall and first progression survival time among lung adenocarcinoma patients, but not lung squamous cell carcinoma patients. HMGA1 could interact with proteins involved in cellular senescence and cell cycle control (TP53, RB1, RPS6KB1, and CDK1), transcription regulation (EP400 and HMGA2), chromatin assembly and remodeling (LMNB1), and cholesterol and isoprene biosynthesis (HMGCR and INSIG1). Taken together, HMGA1 overexpression could be an essential element of lung carcinogenesis and a prognostic feature in lung cancer.

Automated summary

HMGA1 is a protein involved in DNA transcription, replication, recombination, and repair. Its overexpression is associated with malignancy, metastasis, and poor survival in several types of cancer. However, the prognostic significance of HMGA1 in lung cancer is not clear. This study found that HMGA1 is highly expressed in lung tumors and is associated with certain clinicopathological features. High expression of HMGA1 is linked to shorter survival time in lung adenocarcinoma patients but not in lung squamous cell carcinoma patients. HMGA1 interacts with proteins involved in cellular senescence, cell cycle control, transcription regulation, chromatin assembly and remodeling, and cholesterol and isoprene biosynthesis.