Identification and validation of ferroptosis related genes in prostate cancer cells under erastin exposure

Abstract Few studies are focusing on the mechanism of erastin acts on prostate cancer(PCa) cells, and essential ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) that can be PCa treatment targets are rarely known. In the current study, in vitro assays were performed to evaluate the ferroptotic levels of PCa cells under erastin treatment. RNA-seq was used to measure the expression of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in erastin-induced PCa cells. A series of bioinformatic analyses were applied to analyze the pathways, module, transcription factors, and expression levels of DEGs. Erastin inhibited the expression of ferroptosis marker SLC7A11 and cell survivability in both PCa cells. After treatment with erastin, the concentration level of MDA and Fe2+ significantly increased, whereas GSH and GSSG significantly decreased in PCa cells. A total of 295 overlapping DEGs were screened and identified in two cells under erastin exposure and significantly enriched for association with some pathways. The expression levels of four hub FRGs, including TMEFF2, CLU, NRXN3, and UNC5B, were significantly different in PCa and normal tissues. TMEFF2 was the gene co-expressed with SLC7A11 and GPX4. In both PCa cells, the expression levels of SLC7A11 and cell growth were inhibited after the knockdown of TMEFF2. The concentration of Fe2+ significantly increased in two TMEFF2 downregulated cells. In conclusion, FRGs and their correlations with ferroptosis in PCa were identified and validated. Our results showed that these FRGs play a crucial role in PCa, and offered the potential therapeutic target genes for the investigation and treatment of PCa.