# Overexpression of zinc finger DHHC-type containing 1 is associated with poor prognosis and cancer cell growth and metastasis in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma

## TL;DR

This study finds that low levels of the ZDHHC1 gene are linked to worse outcomes and cancer progression in uterine endometrial cancer.

## Contribution

The study identifies ZDHHC1 as a novel prognostic marker and explores its role in cancer growth and immune response in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma.

## Key findings

- ZDHHC1 downregulation correlates with poor prognosis and cancer progression in UCEC.
- ZDHHC1 expression is associated with immune cell infiltration and RNA modifications in UCEC.
- Reduced ZDHHC1 is linked to tumor growth, metastasis, and poor clinical outcomes.

## Abstract

The zinc finger DHHC-type containing 1 (ZDHHC1) gene is implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of various malignant tumors, but its precise involvement in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) remains unknown. Thus, this study investigated ZDHHC1 expression in UCEC using publicly available TCGA and Xena databases and elucidated the functions and mechanisms of the ZDHHC1 gene in UCEC progression using bioinformatics and in vitro experiments. The correlation between ZDHHC1 expression and prognosis, clinical features, immune cells, and RNA modifications of UCEC was evaluated using nomograms, correlation, ROC, and survival analyses. The impacts of ZDHHC1 overexpression on UCEC progression and mechanisms were explored with bioinformatics and in vitro experiments. Our study revealed that ZDHHC1 expression was significantly downregulated in UCEC and correlated with poor prognosis, cancer diagnosis, clinical stage, age, weight, body mass index, histological subtypes, residual tumor, tumor grade, and tumor invasion. Notably, Cox regression analysis and constructed nomograms showed that downregulated ZDHHC1 expression was a prognostic factor associated with poor prognosis in patients with UCEC. Conversely, above-normal ZDHHC1 expression inhibited the cell growth, cell cycle transition, migration, and invasion of UCEC cells, which may be related to the cell cycle, DNA replication, PI3K-AKT, and other pathways that promote tumor progression. Altered ZDHHC1 expression in UCEC was significantly associated with RNA modifications and the changes in cancer immune cell populations, such as CD56 bright NK cells, eosinophils, Th2 cells, and cell markers. In conclusion, considerably reduced ZDHHC1 expression in UCEC is associated with cancer cell growth, metastasis, poor prognosis, immune infiltration, and RNA modifications, revealing the promising potential of ZDHHC1 as a prognostic marker for UCEC.