| Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most frequent (more than 85%) malignancy among the four pathological types of thyroid cancer. Since enhancements of survival and recurrence rates of the disease as well as early
diagnosis are essential, the genome-wide investigation for identifying robust biomarkers for PTC patients is
necessary.
In the current research, two independent gene expression omnibus (GEO) datasets resulted from systematically searching the NCBI-GEO database and applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria for PTC patients.
Then, the identifcation of signifcant biomarkers through a meta-analysis approach used the associated genes of
the mTOR signaling pathway. The survival analysis of the determined genes included overall survival (OS) and
recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates based on The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset. Furthermore, the analysis and
virtual screening process were carried out for fnding potential drugs and drug-like ligands.
The analysis outcomes reveal three statistically signifcant downregulated biomarkers IRS1, DEPTOR, and
PRKCA between PTC and healthy tissues with experimental literature confrmation. Moreover, the survival
analysis shows that DEPTOR and PRKCA have vital roles in RFS (p-value = .012) and OS (p-value = .045) rates,
respectively. However, IRS1 does not present signifcant p-value in terms of RFS and OS rates. The GDIdbi
webserver found twenty, three, and four potential drugs for PRKCA, DEPTOR, and IRS1. And two molecules had
structural interactions with IRS1 with four hydrogen bond acceptors through the virtual screening procedure.
Consequently, the critical role of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) should not be of ignorance in
diagnosing PTC patients. Furthermore, the outcomes of such GWAS investigations need to be carefully involved
in the future development of new therapeutic agents. |