Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40260298›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in oncology2025

WGCNA-ML-MR integration: uncovering immune-related genes in prostate cancer.

Jing Lv, Yuhua Zhou, Shengkai Jin, Chaowei Fu, Yang Shen, Bo Liu, Menglu Li, Yuwei Zhang, Ninghan Feng

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jing Lv *Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
Yuhua Zhou *Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
Shengkai Jin *Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
Chaowei FuWuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
Yang ShenDepartment of Urology, Jiangnan University Medical Center, Wuxi, China.
Bo LiuDepartment of Urology, Jiangnan University Medical Center, Wuxi, China.
Menglu LiDepartment of Urology, Jiangnan University Medical Center, Wuxi, China.
Yuwei ZhangDepartment of Urology, Jiangnan University Medical Center, Wuxi, China.
Ninghan FengWuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Prostate cancer is one of the most common tumors in men, with its incidence and mortality rates continuing to rise year by year. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the most commonly used screening indicator, but its lack of specificity leads to overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Therefore, identifying new biomarkers related to prostate cancer is crucial for the early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. Methods: This study utilized datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to screen for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and employed Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) to identify driver genes highly associated with prostate cancer within the modules. The intersection of differentially expressed genes and driver genes was taken, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analyses were performed. Furthermore, a machine learning algorithm was used to screen for core genes and construct a diagnostic model, which was then validated in an external validation dataset. The correlation between core genes and immune cell infiltration was analyzed, and Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted to identify biomarkers closely related to prostate cancer. Results: This study identified six core biomarkers: SLC14A1, ARHGEF38, NEFH, MSMB, KRT23, and KRT15. MR analysis demonstrated that MSMB may be an important protective factor for prostate cancer. In q-PCR experiments conducted on tumor tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues from prostate cancer patients, it was found that: compared to the adjacent non-cancerous tissues, the expression level of ARHGEF38 in prostate cancer tumor tissues significantly increased, while the expression levels of SLC14A1, NEFH, MSMB, KRT23, and KRT15 significantly decreased. To further validate these findings at the protein level, we conducted Western blot analysis, which corroborated the q-PCR results, demonstrating consistent expression patterns for all six biomarkers. IHC results confirmed that ARHGEF38 protein was highly expressed in tumor tissues, while MSMB expression was markedly reduced. Conclusion: Our study reveals that SLC14A1, ARHGEF38, NEFH, MSMB, KRT23, and KRT15 are potential diagnostic biomarkers for prostate cancer, among which MSMB may play a protective role in prostate cancer.

Indexed as

biomarkersmachine learningMendelian randomizationprostate cancerweighted gene co-expression network analysis

Identifiers

PMID40260298
PMCPMC12009700

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.