Prostate cancer is a frequently diagnosed cancer in men. Gefitinib, a common chemotherapeutic drug, is used alone or in combination with other treatments in several cancers such as prostate cancer. Previous studies confirmed its inhibitory effect on cell cycle in PC3 prostate cancer cell line. This study aimed to evaluate the expression level of cell cycle related genes in the PC3 cell line under gefitinib treatment. GSE53181 dataset was selected from GEO database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between control and treatment groups were identified via GEO2R online tools and R program. STRING database was used to construct a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGs. The hub genes were obtained using the cytoHubba plugin in Cytoscape. Cyclin A2 which is required for S to G2/M transition of cell cycle was identified as a hub gene with logFC = -3.8 and adj p-value < 0.05. Cyclin A2 related genes based on the STRING database include SKP2, CDC6, CDC20, CDK1, and CDK2 which their expressions were also decreased under gefitinib treatment in PC3 cells. All the mentioned genes were enriched in cell cycle progression. In conclusion, our data identified some molecular mechanisms of gefitinib effect on cell cycle inhibition in PC3 cells.
