Expression Profile of GINS Complex Predicts the Prognosis of Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Fanqin Bu,1,2,* Xiaojian Zhu,3,* Xuan Yi,2,4,* Chen Luo,1,2 Kang Lin,1,2 Jinfeng Zhu,1,2 Cegui Hu,1,2 Zitao Liu,1,2 Jiefeng Zhao,1,2 Chao Huang,1,2 Wenjun Zhang,1,2 Jun Huang1 1Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province 330006, People’s Republic of China; 2Jiangxi Medical College of Nanchang University, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China; 3The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Orthopedics, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province 330006, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jun Huang Email huangjun0727@163.comBackground: The GINS complex has been implicated in the prognosis of various cancers. It comprises four subunits, encoded by GINS1, GINS2, GINS3, and GINS4 genes. Based on the current understanding, no report exists on the role of the GINS complex in pancreatic cancer.Methods: We employed various bioinformatics databases including GEPIA, UALCAN, GEPIA2, and Kaplan Meier Plotter to identify the expression profile of the four genes (GINS1, GINS2, GINS3, and GINS4), their correlation with pancreatic cancer grade as well as their prognostic value of in pancreatic cancer. Western blotting and qRT-PCR analyses were conducted to verify the expression profiles of the four genes in pancreatic cancer. CCK8 and EdU cell experiments were conducted to reveal the role played by the four genes in pancreatic cancer cell proliferation.Results: Based on GEPIA, Western blotting, and qRT-PCR analyses, all the four genes in the GINS complex were overexpressed in pancreatic cancer. Notably, the expression of each member was significantly associated with pancreatic cancer grade. The prognostic analysis revealed that not only the whole GINS complex but also each individual were prognostic biomarkers for pancreatic cancer. CCK8 and EdU experiments demonstrated that inhibition of the expression of each GINS member lowered pancreatic cancer cell proliferation.Conclusion: This work implicated GINS1, GINS2, GINS3, and GINS4 genes as critical prognostic markers for pancreatic cancer.Keywords: GINS complex, pancreatic cancer, prognostic biomarker, pancreatic cancer cell proliferation