Abnormal Expressions of DNA Glycosylase Genes NEIL1, NEIL2, and NEIL3 Are Associated with Somatic Mutation Loads in Human Cancer

Figure 1

Associations between the expression levels of NEIL1, NEIL2, and NEIL3 and the somatic mutation load in human cancer. (a) Scatter plots of the median NEIL1, NEIL2, and NEIL3 expression levels and the median mutation loads in 13 cancer types, based on data from the TCGA database. The expression data for each gene was divided by that for the YWHAZ housekeeping gene. The median number of total mutations per Mb (left panels) or the median number of SNP-type mutations per Mb (right panels) was analyzed, and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient () and values were provided. In the analysis, the prevalence of somatic mutations in exomes was calculated based on the identified mutations in the captured region. A bivariate normal ellipse () was observed. (b) Comparison of the total somatic mutation loads between the group showing abnormal NEIL1, NEIL2, and NEIL3 expressions and the other group in lung adenocarcinoma (), as performed using a box-plot analysis of the data from the TCGA database. Values that were 0.5-fold the median NEIL1 expression value, 0.5-fold the median NEIL2 expression value, and 2.5-fold the median NEIL3 expression value in noncancerous lung tissue were used as the cut-off values to dichotomize the cancer cases. The values (Mann-Whitney test) and median mutation values are shown.

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