Identification of key genes participating in copper-diethyldithiocarbamate-related cell death process and predicting the development of prostate cancer.

Copper (Cu) is used as a cofactor in all organisms, and yet it can be toxic at high intracellular concentrations, causing cell death. Diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) is a Cu ionophore that can transport Cu effectively into the cell. Copper-diethyldithiocarbamate (Cu-DDC) can treat prostate cancer (PCa) and may correlate with the cell death process. However, the specific Cu-DDC-related cell death genes in PCa are still unknown. Information about the Cu-DDC-related cell death genes was obtained from a previous study. Concurrently, the RNA expression profiles and clinical data were downloaded from public databases such as GEO, TCGA, and CPGEA. Using data from TCGA database, the logistic and lasso regression models were generated using R software. The influence of these genes in affecting PCa progression and prognosis was analyzed. Finally, the expression of these genes was verified in clinical samples. We found five Cu-DDC-related cell death genes associated with the occurrence of PCa from GSE35988, a gene dataset, namely, CDKN2A, PRC1, CDK1, SOX2, and ZNF365. CDKN2A, PRC1, and CDK1 are known to influence PCa patients' disease-free survival (DFS) status and were overexpressed, whereas SOX2 and ZNF365 were under-expressed in PCa in the different databases. Some of these genes can affect PCa progression. Consistent with the database results, the mRNA and protein expression of CDKN2A, PRC1, and CDK1 was also higher in clinical samples. In conclusion, we identified five hub genes which are important for Cu-DDC-related cell death process that can predict the development of PCa.