Network analysis of liver cancer: a system biology approach

Aim: Determining critical dysregulated proteins in liver cancer was the main aim of this study.

Background: Liver cancer is a common health problem characterized by difficulties in early diagnosis and rapid progression. Due to the lack of targeted drugs and the other features of the disease, the survival rate for patients is extremely low.

Methods: The related dysregulated proteins for liver cancer were retrieved from the STRING database. The queried proteins were included in a network by Cytoscape software, and the central nodes of the network were enriched via gene ontology.

Results: Among 11 introduced central nodes (GAPDH, TP53, EGFR, MYC, INS, ALB, IL6, AKT1, VEGFA, CDH1, and HRAS), HRAS and AKT1 were highlighted as critical dysregulated proteins which can be considered as possible biomarkers.

Conclusion: Analysis revealed that AKT1, HRAS and the related biochemical pathways (especially "HIF-1 signaling pathway") are the possible diagnostic and therapeutic agents of liver cancer.