关键词: 乳腺癌, 犬, 动物模型, 生物标志物, 风险基因, 预后

Abstract: Objective To explore the gene expression characteristics and prognostic markers of canine spontaneous breast cancer. Method Multiple canine breast cancer transcriptome datasets were obtained from public databases and corrected and merged to obtain an integrated dataset with large sample size. By bioinformatics analysis, genes related to disease prognosis were clustered. The key characteristic genes that were related to poor prognosis were screened and then verified by cell proliferation assays. Result Cluster 3 obtained by consensus clustering analysis was associated with a low survival rate of the dogs with breast cancer. The characteristic genes in cluster 3 were mainly enriched in cell proliferation-related signaling pathways. By univariate analysis followed by extracting the intersection genes with the human database, 11 cross-species conserved key genes related to poor prognosis of breast cancer were obtained. Two of these conserved genes, ZBTB16 and ABI3BP, were confirmed to be participate in regulating the proliferation of canine breast cancer cells. Conclusion A series of conserved risk genes was obtained. This key gene cluster could be used as biomarkers for disease classification and prognosis evaluation of canine spontaneous breast cancer, as well as the canine breast cancer animal models.

Key words: breast cancer, dogs, animal model, biomarkers, risk genes, prognosis