High Expression of EXO1 is an Independent Predictor of Poor Prognosis of Lung Adenocarcinoma

Exonuclease 1（EXO1） has been reported as a potential biomarker in various cancers. However, its role in lung adenocarcinoma is poorly understood. To investigate the role of EXO1 in lung adenocarcinoma, we used the cancer genome atlas（TCGA） dataset to evaluate the relationship between the clinical features and EXO1 expression in the lung adenocarcinoma patients with bioinformatics analysis. The results were further verified in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines by Western blot and CCK-8 assay. The results showed that EXO1 was highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma and its expression was related to the TNM staging of lung adenocarcinoma. EXO1 was proved to be an independent risk factor for overall survival. In addition, Gene set enrichment analysis（GSEA） determined that EXO1 was associated with the DNA sensing pathway, base excision repair, DNA replication, cell cycle, P53 signaling pathway, and ERBB signaling pathway. These pathways are highly enriched in lung adenocarcinoma with high EXO1 expression. Western blot and CCK-8 assays showed that EXO1 was highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines. Moreover, targeting EXO1 inhibited the proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cells. This study discovered that EXO1 was highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma and is a potential independent prognostic biomarker, providing new insights for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis evaluation of lung adenocarcinoma patients.