• Shian Liao, Juliang He, Chong Liu, Zide Zhang, Hongyu Liao, Zuowei Liao, Chaojie Yu, Jian Guan, Hao Mo, Zhenchao Yuan, Tuo Liang, Zhaojun Lu, Guoyong Xu, Zequn Wang, Jiarui Chen, Jie Jiang, and Xinli Zhan.
• Spine and Osteopathy Ward, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 Jun 4; 100 (22): e26219e26219.

BackgroundAutophagy is closely related to skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM), but the mechanism involved is unclear. Therefore, exploration of the role of autophagy-related genes (ARGs) in SKCM is necessary.Materials And MethodsDifferential expression autophagy-related genes (DEARGs) were first analysed. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the expression of DEARGs and prognosis of SKCM. Further, the expression levels of prognosis-related DEARGs were verified by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. Finally, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms of SKCM.ResultsFive ARGs (APOL1, BIRC5, EGFR, TP63, and SPNS1) were positively correlated with the prognosis of SKCM. IHC verified the results of the differential expression of these 5 ARGs in the bioinformatics analysis. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve, the signature had a good performance at predicting overall survival in SKCM. The signature could classify SKCM patients into high-risk or low-risk groups according to distinct overall survival. The nomogram confirmed that the risk score has a particularly large impact on the prognosis of SKCM. Calibration plot displayed excellent agreement between nomogram predictions and actual observations. Principal component analysis indicated that patients in the high-risk group could be distinguished from those in low-risk group. Results of GSEA indicated that the low-risk group is enriched with aggressiveness-related pathways such as phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B and mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling pathways.ConclusionOur study identified a 5-gene signature. It revealed the mechanisms of autophagy that lead to the progression of SKCM and established a prognostic nomogram that can predict overall survival of patients with SKCM. The findings of this study provide novel insights into the relationship between ARGs and prognosis of SKCM.Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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