Screening of m6A gene-related lncRNAs in colon adenocarcinoma and construction of a prognostic prediction model.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to screen the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) related to N6-methyladenosine (m6A) gene and build the prognostic prediction model of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The RNA sequencing data of 435 COAD cases with clinical survival and prognosis information and the GSE39582 dataset were obtained from TCGA and GEO, respectively. The lncRNAs related to the m6A gene with significant independent prognosis were identified. We used Cox regression analyses to acquire the lncRNAs associated with prognosis. Moreover, we built a prognostic prediction model of COAD. The Cox regression analyses were applied to obtain the independent prognostic clinical factors. Furthermore, we built the ceRNA regulation network of COAD, and the gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes (KEGG) enrichment analysis for the lncRNAs was applied.

RESULTS: Overall, 5 lncRNAs (MAGI1-IT1, CSNK1G2-AS1, ALMS1-IT1, LINC01341, LOXL1-AS1) related to m6A gene with significant independent prognosis were acquired. A prognostic prediction model of COAD was built, and 4 correlation-independent prognostic factors were found. In addition, the ceRNA regulation network of COAD was built, and mRNAs were significantly enriched in the 15 GO biological processes (such as regulation of transcription) and in 14 KEGG pathways (such as taurine).

CONCLUSIONS: We identified 5 lncRNAs related to the m6A gene with significant independent prognosis. The ceRNA regulation network of COAD was built, which has great significance for identifying the biomarkers associated with m6A in COAD.