Identification of Novel Gene Signature Predicting Lymph Node Metastasis in Papillary Thyroid Cancer via Bioinformatics Analysis and in vitro Validation

A novel six-gene signature model including COL8A2, MET, FN1, MPZL2, PDLIM4 and CLDN10 was established based on a total of 52 DEGs from the intersection of LNM-related modules identified by WGNCA from TCGA, THCA and GSE60542 to predict the situation of lymph node metastasis in PTC. Those six hub genes were all more highly expressed in PTC tumors and played potential biological functions on the development of PTC in in vitro experiments, which had potential values as diagnostic and therapeutic targets.