Comprehensive analysis of transcriptomics and radiomics revealed the potential of TEDC2 as a diagnostic marker for lung adenocarcinoma

Background: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a widely occurring cancer with a high death rate. Radiomics, as a high-throughput method, has a wide range of applications in different aspects of the management of multiple cancers. However, the molecular mechanism of LUAD by combining transcriptomics and radiomics in order to probe LUAD remains unclear. Methods: The transcriptome data and radiomics features of LUAD were extracted from the public database. Subsequently, we used weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and a series of machine learning algorithms including Random Forest (RF), Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) logistic regression, and Support Vector Machines Recursive Feature Elimination (SVM-RFE) to proceed with the screening of diagnostic genes for LUAD. In addition, the CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE algorithms were utilized to assess the association of these genes with immune profiles. The LASSO algorithm further identified the features most relevant to the expression levels of LUAD diagnostic genes and validated the model based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC), precision-recall (PR), calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) curves. Finally, RT-qPCR, transwell and cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) based assays were performed to assess the expression levels and potential functions of the screened genes in LUAD cell lines. Results: We screened a total of 214 modular genes with the highest correlation with LUAD samples based on WGCNA, of which 192 genes were shown to be highly expressed in LUAD patients. Subsequently, three machine learning algorithms identified a total of four genes, including UBE2T, TEDC2, RCC1, and FAM136A, as diagnostic molecules for LUAD, and the ROC curves showed that these diagnostic molecules had good diagnostic performance (AUC values of 0.989, 0.989, 989, and0.987, respectively). The expression of these diagnostic molecules was significantly higher in tumor samples than in normal para-cancerous tissue samples and also correlated significantly and negatively with stromal and immune scores. Specifically, we also constructed a model based on TEDC2 expression consisting of seven radiomic features. Among them, the ROC and PR curves showed that the model had an AUC value of up to 0.96, respectively. Knockdown of TEDC2 slowed down the proliferation, migration and invasion efficiency of LUAD cell lines. Conclusion: In this study, we screened for diagnostic markers of LUAD and developed a non-invasive radiomics model by innovatively combining transcriptomics and radiomics data. These fi ndings contribute to our understanding of LUAD biology and offer potential avenues for further exploration in clinical practice.