In Silico Analysis Revealed a Role for NUSAP1 in Lung Adenocarcinoma through E2F1/hsa-let-7b-5p/lncRNA-TMPO-AS1.

Objectives: Nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NUSAP1) is crucial for chromosomal segregation and spindle assembly, its expression correlates with high morbidity and mortality rates, necessitating better understanding of prognosis-related networks.

Methods: The study used databases like KM Plotter, TNMplot, UALCAN, OncoMX, GEPIA2, OncoDB, ENCORI, TIMER 2.0, CancerSEA, miRNet, CellTracer, TISIDB, GSCA, and the Enrichr database to analyze NUSAP1 expression in lung cancer tumors and normal tissues.

Results: The NUSAP1 gene is overexpressed in both adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). However, LUAD has a poor prognosis for overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.94), first progression (FP) (HR = 1.96), and post-progression survival (PPS) (HR = 1.48), while LUSC showed no significant data. High NUSAP1 expression is significantly associated with adenocarcinoma smoker patients. The study also found a strong correlation between lncRNA-TMPO-AS1 overexpression and poor OS prognosis in LUAD smokers, a negative relationship between miRNA hsa-let-7b-5p and TMPO-AS1/E2F1/NUSAP1 expression, and a positive correlation between S and M phase cell cycle checkpoints, tumor infiltrating CD4 immune cells, and NUSAP1 expression in lung adenocarcinoma.

Conclusion: Smokers with lung adenocarcinoma have worse prognoses due to higher E2F1, NUSAP1, and TMPO-AS1 levels, possibly due to TMPO-AS1 sponge formation with hsa-let-7b-5p.