Background/Aims Lung cancer remains one of the most prevalent and aggressive malignancies worldwide, characterized by poor prognosis and high mortality rates. As the understanding of the molecular underpinnings of lung cancer evolves, the focus has shifted towards chromatin-modifying proteins, which play pivotal roles in gene expression regulation and cellular processes. Chromobox protein 3 (CBX3), has garnered attention due to its potential involvement in oncogenesis. In lung cancer, CBX3 plays an epigenetic role in enhancing tumor growth and progression. he main objectives of this study involve the molecular and functional characterization of CBX3 in lung cancer; the role of possible CBX3 modulators to check how they affect lung cancer; understanding the gene expression profile analysis to characterize CBX3 function in lung cancer Methods • In silico data analysis on gene and epigenetic profiling from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression portal (GTEx). • Immunohistochemical analysis using a lung cancer tissue microarray containing 120 lung cancer tissue samples. Results In silico data indicate high expression of CBX3 in lung cancer tissues associated with a worse prognosis. Notably, RNA sequencing data from TCGA and GTEx show that lung tissues express CBX3 at a significantly higher level than normal lung tissues. The survival analysis with the TCGA database between samples with low and high expression levels of CBX3 indicates that high CBX3 expression is significantly associated with shorter overall survival inlung cancer patients. Immunohistochemical analysis using a lung cancer tissue microarray containing 120 lung cancer tissue samples indicate that CBX3 protein expression in lung tissues is mainly nuclear. Furthermore, CBX3 expression is strongly associated with tumor grade, clinical stage, tumor dimension, tissue type and pathology diagnosis. This clarifies the role of CBX3 in the development of lung cancer by observing that it is part of the molecular machinery that promotes aggressiveness in other ways. Conclusion Elucidating the role of CBX3 in lung cancer progression provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms driving tumor aggressiveness. The identification of CBX3 as a potential biomarker establishes a new avenue for targeted therapies, which could be particularly beneficial in the treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer.
CBX3 as a prognostic biomarker in lung cancer
Mariarosaria Conte;Nunzio Del Gaudio;Angela Nebbioso;Vincenzo Carafa;Lucia Altucci
2025
Abstract
Background/Aims Lung cancer remains one of the most prevalent and aggressive malignancies worldwide, characterized by poor prognosis and high mortality rates. As the understanding of the molecular underpinnings of lung cancer evolves, the focus has shifted towards chromatin-modifying proteins, which play pivotal roles in gene expression regulation and cellular processes. Chromobox protein 3 (CBX3), has garnered attention due to its potential involvement in oncogenesis. In lung cancer, CBX3 plays an epigenetic role in enhancing tumor growth and progression. he main objectives of this study involve the molecular and functional characterization of CBX3 in lung cancer; the role of possible CBX3 modulators to check how they affect lung cancer; understanding the gene expression profile analysis to characterize CBX3 function in lung cancer Methods • In silico data analysis on gene and epigenetic profiling from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression portal (GTEx). • Immunohistochemical analysis using a lung cancer tissue microarray containing 120 lung cancer tissue samples. Results In silico data indicate high expression of CBX3 in lung cancer tissues associated with a worse prognosis. Notably, RNA sequencing data from TCGA and GTEx show that lung tissues express CBX3 at a significantly higher level than normal lung tissues. The survival analysis with the TCGA database between samples with low and high expression levels of CBX3 indicates that high CBX3 expression is significantly associated with shorter overall survival inlung cancer patients. Immunohistochemical analysis using a lung cancer tissue microarray containing 120 lung cancer tissue samples indicate that CBX3 protein expression in lung tissues is mainly nuclear. Furthermore, CBX3 expression is strongly associated with tumor grade, clinical stage, tumor dimension, tissue type and pathology diagnosis. This clarifies the role of CBX3 in the development of lung cancer by observing that it is part of the molecular machinery that promotes aggressiveness in other ways. Conclusion Elucidating the role of CBX3 in lung cancer progression provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms driving tumor aggressiveness. The identification of CBX3 as a potential biomarker establishes a new avenue for targeted therapies, which could be particularly beneficial in the treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
