Abstract
GATAs are a family of transcription factors that play sophisticated and extensive roles in cell fate transitions and tissue morphogenesis during embryonic development. Emerging evidence indicate that GATAs are involved in tumorigenesis of lung cancer (LC). However, the distinct roles, diverse expression patterns and prognostic values of six GATA family members in LC have yet to be elucidated. In the present study, the diverse expression patterns, prognostic values, genetic mutations, protein-protein interaction(PPI) networks of GATAs, Gene Ontology enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway in LC patients were analyzed using a serious of databases, including ONCOMINE database, Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia database, the Human Protein Atlas, the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database, the Kaplan-Meier plotter, cBioPortal, String database and database Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery. The mRNA expression levels of GATA1/2/4/5/6 were downregulated, while GATA3 showed abnormal expressions of up-regulation and down-regulation in patients with LC. Aberrant GATAs mRNA expression was connected with prognosis. Furthermore, genetic alterations mainly appeared in GATA4. Gene Ontology enrichment and network analysis demonstrated that GATAs and their 50 interactors were primarily associated with positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter, transcription factor complex, transcription factor binding Jak-STAT signaling pathway. This comprehensive bioinformatic analysis demonstrated that GATA1/2/3/4/6 may be new prognosis factors, and GATA2/5/6 may be potential targets for personalized therapy for patients with LC, but further studies are requisite to analyze the mechanism of their carcinogenicity and investigate novel drug treatment. Finally, these findings would conduce to a better understanding of the unique roles of GATAs in LC.