Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a malignancy with relatively high incidence and poor prognosis. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) were reported to be dysregulated in multiple cancers and were closely associated with tumor initiation and progression. However, an integrated analysis of the roles of RBPs in HNSCC has not been conducted. In the present study, we obtained transcriptome data and corresponding clinical information of HNSCC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and screened out differentially expressed RBPs between tumor and normal tissues. Subsequently, we utilized a series of bioinformatics analyses to elucidate the potential functions and prognostic value of these RBPs in HNSCC. As a result, a total of 88 aberrantly expressed RBPs were identified, including 63 downregulated and 25 upregulated RBPs. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that the differentially expressed RBPs mainly participated in mRNA metabolic processes, RNA processing, RNA transport, regulation of RNA stability, RNA degradation, and mRNA surveillance pathway. Three RBP genes (NOVA1, EZH2, and RBM24) were determined as prognosis-related hub genes from which EZH2 and NOVA1 were selected to construct a prognostic signature based on LASSO Cox regression algorithm. Further analysis demonstrated that the high-risk patient group stratified by the risk signature has advanced tumor grade and poorer overall survival when compared with low-risk group. Moreover, univariate analysis showed that the risk score, tumor stage, T stage, and N stage were significantly associated with patient overall survival and the multivariate analysis results indicated that the risk score and age were greatly correlated with patient prognosis. Overall, this study provided a comprehensive landscape of RBPs in HNSCC and identified an effective gene signature for predicting the clinical outcomes of HNSCC patient, which may contribute to clinical decision making and individualized cancer treatment.

中文翻译：

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RNA结合蛋白在头颈部鳞状细胞癌中的作用和预后价值的综合分析。

头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）是一种恶性肿瘤，发病率较高，预后较差。据报道，RNA结合蛋白（RBPs）在多种癌症中表达失调，并且与肿瘤的发生和发展密切相关。但是，尚未对RBP在HNSCC中的作用进行综合分析。在本研究中，我们从The Cancer Genome Atlas数据库获得了HNSCC患者的转录组数据和相应的临床信息，并筛选出了肿瘤与正常组织之间差异表达的RBP。随后，我们利用了一系列生物信息学分析来阐明这些RBP在HNSCC中的潜在功能和预后价值。结果，鉴定出总共88个异常表达的RBP，包括63个下调的RBP和25个上调的RBP。功能富集分析表明，差异表达的RBP主要参与mRNA代谢过程，RNA加工，RNA转运，RNA稳定性调节，RNA降解和mRNA监测途径。三个RBP基因（NOVA1，EZH2和RBM24）被确定为与预后相关的枢纽基因，其中EZH2和NOVA1选择基于LASSO Cox回归算法的预后签名。进一步的分析表明，与低风险组相比，按风险标志分层的高风险患者组具有较高的肿瘤分级和较差的总体生存率。此外，单因素分析显示风险评分，肿瘤分期，T分期和N分期与患者总体生存率显着相关，多因素分析结果表明，风险评分和年龄与患者预后密切相关。总体而言，这项研究提供了HNSCC中RBP的综合情况，并确定了预测HNSCC患者临床结局的有效基因标志，这可能有助于临床决策和个体化癌症治疗。