Phospholipase C-like protein 2 (PLC-L2) is associated with cytolytic ability of CD8+ T cells and prognosis of prostate cancer
PLC-L2, whose related members of its family facilitate in the differentiation of T cells, is a potential epigenetic marker for PCa. The density of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells in PCa is associated with a better prognosis. It remains unclear how PLC-L2 affects the TIL and PCa. A human tissue microarray (TMA) and PCa patients from the Cancer Genome Atlas were used to address the correlations between PLC-L2 and the infiltrated immune cells and to evaluate the relationship between PLC-L2 and prognosis of PCa patients. More advanced PCa expressed less PLC-L2 than less advanced PCa, in terms of pathological grade, clinical stage, and the presence of lymph node and distant metastasis. Besides, the expression of PLC-L2 had positive correlations with CD8+ T cells and antigen-presenting cells such as macrophage and dendritic cells. PLC-L2 expression was also positively correlated with local immune cytolytic ability, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-12A, IL-12B, and IL-18. Furthermore, PLC-L2 expression was an independent factor of a favorable prognosis in PCa patients. This study reveals that PLC-L2 might recruit CD8+ T cells and promote their cytolytic ability in PCa. PLC-L2 accompanied by CD8+ cytotoxic T cells could suppress the development of PCa and subsequently increase prognosis in PCa patients.