Table 2.
Identified key genes showed significantly differential expression in response to GE treatment, and their role in epigenetic mechanisms and cancer.
| Gene | Function in Cancer | Epigenetic Regulation | RNA-Seq |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cluster of Differentiation 74 (Cd74) | Cd74 is overexpressed in breast cancer patients. It is also found to be significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis in TNBC [38] | Epigenetic mechanisms play a role in Cd74 expression via Cd74 promoter methylation [39] | DEG, significant decrease (4.76 fold) |
| Lipoprotein lipase (Lpl) | Breast cancer and sarcoma cells express and secrete active Lpl enzyme to acquire fatty acids from the blood circulation, which facilitate growth of these cells [40] | Epigenetic changes at the promoter regions may alter expression of the Lpl gene and may play an important role in prostate cancer development [41] | DEG, significant decrease (2.8 fold) |
| Frizzled 9 (Fzd9) | Oncogene. Overexpressed Fzd9 is found in various types of cancer [42,43] | Hypermethylated Fzd9 is associated with hormone receptor positive, luminal A, or p53 wild-type breast cancers [44] | DEG, significant decrease (1.18 fold) |
| Spermidine/spermine-N1-acetyltransferase 1 (Sat1) | Sat1 overexpression is correlated with poor clinical outcomes [45] | Sat1 is involved in acetylation of histone H3, resulting in chromatin remodeling and regulation of gene expression [45] | DEG, significant decrease (0.82 fold) |
| Interferon-Induced Protein 44 (Ifi44) | Oncogene. Overexpressed Ifi44 is found in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and functioned heterogeneously in tumor formation and progression [46] | Iifi44 promoter hypomethylation can distinguish systemic lupus erythematosus patients from healthy persons, promising to be first novel epigenetic diagnostic marker [47] | DEG, significant decrease (2.19 fold) |
| WW and C2 domain containing 1 (Wwc1) | Tumor-suppressor gene. Low Wwc1 expression is associated with aggressive breast cancer and poor survival outcomes [48] | DNA methylation is negatively correlated with Wwc1 expression [48] | DEG, significant increase (0.90 fold) |