A Novel Gene Pair CSTF2/DPE2A Impacts Prognosis and Cell Cycle of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the commonest cancers at present, possesses elevated mortality. This study explored the predictive value of CSTF2/PDE2A for HCC prognosis. Methods: In this study, clinical information and RNA sequencing expression profiles of HCC patients were acquired from common databases. Kaplan–Meier curve compound with time-dependent ROC curve, nomogram model, and univariate/multivariate Cox analysis were carried out to access the prediction capacity of CSTF2/PDE2A. The immune status, tumor microenvironment, drug sensitivity, biological function and pathway between HCC and adjacent non-tumorous tissue were analyzed and compared. Finally, RT-qPCR, Western blot, and apoptosis assays were performed to verify the effect on HCC cells of CSTF2/PDE2A. Results: The optimal cut-off value of CSTF2, PDE2A and CSTF2/PDE2A was 6.95, 0.95 and 3.63, respectively. In TCGA and ICGC cohorts, the high group of CSTF2/PDE2A presented higher OS compared to low group. The area under the curve (AUC) for OS at 1-, 2-, and 3-years predicted by CSTF2/PDE2A were 0.731/0.695, 0.713/0.732 and 0.689/0.755, higher than the counterparts of the single gene CSTF2 and PDE2A. Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that CSTF2/PDE2A (HR = 1.860/3.236, 95% CI = 1.265–2.733/1.575–6.645) was an independent prognostic factor for HCC. The OS nomogram model created according to five independent factors including CSTF2/PDE2A showed excellent capacity for HCC prognosis. Furthermore, the immune status of the CSTF2/PDE2A high group was deleted, cell cycle-related genes and chemotherapy resistance were increased. Finally, cell experiments revealed distinct differences in the proliferation, apoptosis, protein and mRNA expression of HCC cells after si-CSTF2 transfection compared with the negative control. Conclusion: Taken together, the gene pair CSTF2/PDE2A is able to forecast the prognosis of HCC and regulates cell cycle, which is promising as a novel prognostic predictor of HCC.