OBJECTIVE  To analyze the expression and prognostic significance of HMGA2 gene in brain glioma based on bioinformatics, and to infer the biological function of HMGA2 on the occurrence and development of brain glioma.

METHODS  The gene expression and clinical data sets of 693 and 697 glioma cases were obtained from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas(CGGA) and the Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA), respectively, and the different expression states of HMGA2 were studied. Kaplan-Meier survival curve method and Cox analysis method were used to analyze the prognostic value of HMGA2 in brain glioma. Both gene ontology(GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were employed to predict the pathways potentially enriched by HMGA2. HMGA2 and angiogenesis related gene sets were analyzed for gene set variation(GSVA).

RESULTS  In the group with high-grade glioma, wild-type isocitrate dehydrogenase(IDH), and no 1p/19q co-deletion, HMGA2 was highly expressed. Survival analysis showed that overall survival(OS) of patients with higher HMGA2 expression was significantly lower than that of patients with lower HMGA2 expression(P<0.0001). In Cox regression analysis, HMGA2 expression level was an independent prognostic factor for OS. GO and KEGG analysis showed that HMGA2 was enriched in angiogenesis, endoplasmic reticulum lumen, apoptosis, proteoglycans in cancer, protein binding, extracellular matrix and receptor interaction, focal adhesion signaling, PI3K-AKT pathway, etc. The results of GSVA showed that HMGA2 expression was positively correlated with angiogenesis.

CONCLUSION  The expression of HMGA2 is closely related to the pathological grade and molecular markers of brain glioma, and the prognosis of brain glioma patients with high expression of HMGA2 is poor. HMGA2 can affect the occurrence and development of glioma, and is expected to be used as a predictive marker and therapeutic target for brain glioma patients.