Abstract:
Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of cell division cycle 7 (CDC7) in osteosarcoma (OS) and its effect on the proliferation, migration and invasion of OS cells.
Methods The mRNA microarray data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was used to analyze the expression of CDC7 in OS tissues. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to verify the expression of CDC7 mRNA in human osteoblast cell line (hFOB1.19) and OS cell lines (HOS, U-2 OS, MG63). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression of CDC7 protein in 39 cases of OS tissues and 8 cases of adjacent normal tissues. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was employed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of CDC7 in OS. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted to analyze the impact of CDC7 expression on the prognosis of OS patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models were utilized to analyze risk factors for poor prognosis in OS. CDC7 small interfering RNA (si-CDC7) was used to transfect HOS cells, and cell proliferation was assessed using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and EdU assays, while cell migration and invasion were evaluated using Transwell assays.
Results Multiple GEO datasets indicated that CDC7 expression was up-regulated in OS (P < 0.05). Compared with hFOB1.19 cells, CDC7 mRNA expression was increased in HOS, U-2 OS and MG63 cells (P < 0.05). CDC7 protein was highly expressed in OS tissues compared with normal tissues (P < 0.001). CDC7 demonstrated good diagnostic potential for OS (AUC=0.73, 95% CI: 0.69-0.77). Patients with high CDC7 expression had a significant lower survival rate than those with low CDC7 expression (P=0.028). High CDC7 expression was an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in OS (HR=2.471, 95% CI: 1.056-5.781, P=0.037). Silencing CDC7 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of HOS cells.
Conclusion The expression of CDC7 is upregulated in OS, and it promotes the proliferation, migration and invasion of OS cells, which is expected to be a molecular marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of OS.