IN-SILICO STUDIES ILLUSTRATE THE ONCOGENIC POTENTIAL OF AN ATPASE PROTEIN NSF

Cancer is a complex and life-threatening disease characterized by abnormal cell growth. Several AAA+ ATPases are involved in the oncogenic pathways, however, the role of an ATPase protein i.e. N-ethylmaleimaide-Sensitive Factor (NSF) was unclear. Therefore, we performed systematic bioinformatics analysis to predict the prospect of NSF as a cancer biomarker. NSF is found to be upregulated in some cancers whereas down regulated in others. Additionally, this expression was found to be associated with the reduced survival rate of cancer patients. We investigated NFS’s mutation and copy number amplification status across the cancers since the genetic alteration is a major cause of cancer. Several hotspot mutation sites were observed at the ATPase domain of NSF indicating that these mutations might have a role in carcinogenesis. Additionally, the copy number amplification study revealed a high amplification percentage of NSF across the cancers. We further focused on the functional characteristics of NSF across cancers. Fascinatingly, we found many interacting protein partners of NSF that are key in carcinogenesis. We further focused on the probable oncogenic pathways related to NSF which indicate that NSF could be crucial for oncogenic function. Therefore, our study unravels the oncogenic potential of NSF and projects it as a potential cancer biomarker and cancer drug target.