Elucidating the functional roles of bidirectionally transcribed genes in immunobiology of cancers

Abstract

In the realm of correlated regulations in genomic context, bidirectional genes have a spatial and functional connection unlike any other. These are genes originating on the same genomic position, but on opposite strands. Usually sharing a common promoter of hundreds to thousands base pairs, the genes are functionally synchronized in levels of expression. Within the complex pathogenesis of cancer, concerted changes like these can lead to tumorigenesis, or result in tumor cell suppression. In a similar manner, low immune infiltration promotes cancer progression at earlier stages, but acts as an antagonist during metastasis. In this study, we have performed functional enrichment analysis of the bidirectional genes to identify associated cancers. We also looked for the correlation between bidirectional genes and the immune infiltration profiles of different white blood cells. Finally, we checked the differential expression of the disease associated genes in the tumor cells of selected cancer types. Analyzing 5,013 extracted bidirectional gene pairs, cancers like Colorectal Cancer, Low Grade Glioma, Skin Cutaneous Melanoma, Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma could be associated with the deregulation of the pairs. BCL2L12 and IRF3 gene pair could be positively correlated in the prognosis of LGG with significant patient survival. Additionally, PSMB9 and TAP1 are highly expressed in SKCM and strongly correlated with patient survival. These findings can serve as crucial clues to direct future investigations in cancer immunology and therapeutics.