scholarly journals Systematic Pan-Cancer Analysis Reveals the Prognostic Value and Immunological Role of EPHX2

Author(s):  
Weiquan Hu ◽  
Qinfei Zhao ◽  
Jing Xu ◽  
Huaying Li ◽  
Longyu Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Accumulating evidence indicates the essential role of EPHX2 in tumorigenesis. However, to date, no studies have performed a systematic evaluation of EPHX2 gene in human cancers and the predictive role of EPHX2 in cancer immunotherapy response has still not been explored. Methods In the present study, Oncomine, TIMER2, UALCAN, GEPIA2, PrognoScan, HPA and Kaplan-Meier Plotter database were utilized to comprehensively analyze the expression landscape and prognostic clinical value of EPHX2 across 33 human cancers. To gain a better understanding of the role of EPHX2 in cancer immunotherapy, the correlations between EPHX2 and tumor immune microenvironment (TME) such as immune cell infiltrations, immune modulators, and the major histocompatibility complex were demonstrated. The underlying EPHX2-associated signaling pathways in cancer were also analysed. Moreover, the correlation between EPHX2 and immunotherapeutic biomarkers such as tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI) was explored. At last, the potential immune checkpoint blockers (ICB) response was predicted using tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) algorithm. Results Overall, the mRNA expression of EPHX2 was significantly downregulated in the majority of tumors compared with normal tissues. Despite the significant prognostic value of EPHX2 expression across cancers, EPHX2 played a protective or detrimental role in different kinds of cancers. Generally speaking, immune cell infiltrations, immune modulators and immunotherapeutic biomarkers were all strongly related to the expression of EPHX2. Besides, EPHX2 expression was significantly related to immune-relevant pathways, especially in PAAD, THYM and UVM. Furthermore, our study demonstrated diverse response patterns of ICB in response to EPHX2 expression in different tumor types. Conclusion Our findings here suggest that EPHX2 could be a prognostic factor in multiple cancers and play an important role in tumor immunity by affecting infiltrating immune cells, TMB and MSI. This study provides further insight into the role of EPHX2 in tumor immunotherapy.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiquan Hu ◽  
Qinfei Zhao ◽  
Jing Xu ◽  
Huaying Li ◽  
Longyu Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Accumulating evidence indicates the essential role of EPHX2 in tumorigenesis. However, to date, no studies have performed a systematic evaluation of EPHX2 gene in human cancers and the predictive role of EPHX2 in cancer immunotherapy response has still not been explored. Methods: In the present study, Oncomine, TIMER2, UALCAN, GEPIA2, PrognoScan, HPA and Kaplan-Meier Plotter database were utilized to comprehensively analyze the expression landscape and prognostic clinical value of EPHX2 across 33 human cancers. To gain a better understanding of the role of EPHX2 in cancer immunotherapy, the correlations between EPHX2 and tumor immune microenvironment (TME) such as immune cell infiltrations, immune modulators, and the major histocompatibility complex were demonstrated. The underlying EPHX2-associated signaling pathways in cancer were also analysed. Moreover, the correlation between EPHX2 and immunotherapeutic biomarkers such as tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI) was explored. At last, the potential immune checkpoint blockers (ICB) response was predicted using tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) algorithm. Results: Overall, the mRNA expression of EPHX2 was significantly downregulated in the majority of tumors compared with normal tissues. Despite the significant prognostic value of EPHX2 expression across cancers, EPHX2 played a protective or detrimental role in different kinds of cancers. Generally speaking, immune cell infiltrations, immune modulators and immunotherapeutic biomarkers were all strongly related to the expression of EPHX2. Besides, EPHX2 expression was significantly related to immune-relevant pathways, especially in PAAD, THYM and UVM. Furthermore, our study demonstrated diverse response patterns of ICB in response to EPHX2 expression in different tumor types. Conclusion: Our findings here suggest that EPHX2 could be a prognostic factor in multiple cancers and play an important role in tumor immunity by affecting infiltrating immune cells, TMB and MSI. This study provides further insight into the role of EPHX2 in tumor immunotherapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuomao Mo ◽  
Pan Li ◽  
Zhirui Cao ◽  
Shijun Zhang

BackgroundPrevious studies have reported the potential of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in cancer immunotherapy. However, the mechanisms underpinning its therapeutic value have yet to be comprehensively investigated. Thus, this research aimed to explore the underlying association between AhR and cancer immunotherapy in 33 human cancers.MethodsThe gene expression data and clinical characteristics of 33 cancers were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. The immunotherapeutic cohorts included GSE67501 and GSE78220 as well as IMvigor210, which were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and included in a previously published study respectively. Clinical parameters, including patient age, gender, survival, and tumor stage were analyzed to assess the prognostic value of AhR. The activity of AhR was generated by single sample gene set enrichment analysis and used to evaluate the difference between the AhR transcriptome and protein expression level. To better understand the role of AhR in cancer immunotherapy, the correlation between AhR and tumor microenvironment, as well as its relation to immune processes/elements, such as immune cell infiltration, immune inhibitors and stimulators, and the major histocompatibility complex were analyzed. The relevant underlying pathways associated with AhR signaling in cancer were also explored. Furthermore, the correlation between AhR and two immunotherapeutic biomarkers (tumor mutational burden and microsatellite instability) was investigated. Finally, the relationship between AhR and immunotherapeutic response was explored using three independent immunotherapeutic cohorts.ResultsAlthough AhR was not closely associated with age (5/33), gender (3/33), or tumor stage (3/21) in any of the studied human cancers, it exhibited potential prognostic value for predicting patient survival. Consistency has been observed between AhR activity and expression in some cancers (7/33). Generally, AhR presented a robust correlation with immune cell infiltration, immune modulators, and immunotherapeutic markers. Moreover, high AhR expression was significantly related to immune-relevant pathways. However, no significant correlation was observed between AhR and the immunotherapeutic response.ConclusionsThis research investigated the immunotherapeutic value of AhR in 33 human cancers, providing evidence regarding the function of AhR and its role in clinical treatment. However, considering that a bioinformatics approach was adopted, the current results are preliminary and require further validation.


Author(s):  
Dongqi Chai ◽  
Lilong Zhang ◽  
Yongjun Guan ◽  
Jingping Yuan ◽  
Man Li ◽  
...  

MORF4-related gene-binding protein (MRGBP) is the subunit of the NuA4 histone acetyltransferase complex which is involved in transcriptional activation of select genes principally by acetylation of nucleosomal histones H4 and H2A. Much of the research indicated an oncogenic role of MRGBP in the development of cancers. However, it is still unknown the role MRGBP plays in human cancers, which deserves further exploration. In this research, the expression profile, prognostic value of MRGBP, and the relationship between MRGBP and immune infiltration were explored in 33 types of cancer. The differences in MRGBP expression in tumor and normal tissues were explored using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus and ONCOMINE. Analysis of the association between MRGBP and prognosis using Kaplan-Meier survival curve and COX analysis. The data of Tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI) from TCGA. The relationship Between MRGBP expression and immunity was analyzed using the ESTIMATE algorithm and CIBERSORT. Furthermore, we explored MRGBP expression and the relationship between MRGBP expression and macrophage infiltration using immunohistochemical analysis in lower grade glioma (LGG). Our results revealed that MRGBP was highly expressed in most cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. Tumors with increased MRGBP expression had a high clinicopathologic stage and poor prognosis. The expression of MRGBP was closely related to the TMB, MSI. We also found a significant negative correlation between MRGBP expression and stromal scores and immune scores in various types of cancer. Furthermore, MRGBP expression was associated with a variety of immune cells including B cells, NK cells, T cells, and macrophages. LGG and LIHC was selected as representative cancer types for further study, the results of immunohistochemistry indicated that the protein levels of MRGBP were significantly elevated in tumor tissues. Moreover, our LIHC data analysis showed that patients with high MRGBP expression were associated with short survival rates and MRGBP was a risk factor to determine OS. Immunohistochemistry also confirmed that M0 macrophage infiltration in the MRGBP-high group significantly increased. In conclusion, these results reveal that MRGBP can serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and it plays an important role in tumor immune infiltration in various tumors, especially in LGG and LIHC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Liu ◽  
Yihang Qi ◽  
Jie Zhai ◽  
Xiangyi Kong ◽  
Xiangyu Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Despite the promising impact of cancer immunotherapy targeting CTLA4 and PD1/PDL1, a large number of cancer patients fail to respond. LAG3 (Lymphocyte Activating 3), also named CD233, is a protein Coding gene served as alternative inhibitory receptors to be targeted in the clinic. The impact of LAG3 on immune cell populations and co-regulation of immune response in breast cancer remained largely unknown. Methods To characterize the role of LAG3 in breast cancer, we investigated transcriptome data and associated clinical information derived from a total of 2994 breast cancer patients. Results We observed that LAG3 was closely correlated with major molecular and clinical characteristics, and was more likely to be enriched in higher malignant subtype, suggesting LAG3 was a potential biomarker of triple-negative breast cancer. Furthermore, we estimated the landscape of relationship between LAG3 and ten types of cell populations in breast cancer. Gene ontology analysis revealed LAG3 were strongly correlated with immune response and inflammatory activities. We investigated the correlation pattern between LAG3 and immune modulators in pan-cancer, especially the synergistic role of LAG3 with other immune checkpoints members in breast cancer. Conclusions LAG3 expression was closely related to malignancy of breast cancer and might serve as a potential biomarker; LAG3 might plays an important role in regulating tumor immune microenvironment, not only T cells, but also other immune cells. More importantly, LAG3 might synergize with CTLA4, PD1/ PDL1 and other immune checkpoints, thereby lending more evidences to combination cancer immunotherapy by targeting LAG3, PD1/PDL1, and CTLA4 together.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1151-1159
Author(s):  
Chen-Lu Liao ◽  
◽  
Xing-Yu Sun ◽  
Qi Zhou ◽  
Min Tian ◽  
...  

AIM: To investigate the role of tumor microenvironment (TME)-related long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in uveal melanoma (UM), probable prognostic signature and potential small molecule drugs using bioinformatics analysis. METHODS: UM expression profile data were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and bioinformatics methods were used to find prognostic lncRNAs related to UM immune cell infiltration. The gene expression profile data of 80 TCGA specimens were analyzed using the single sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) method, and the immune cell infiltration of a single specimen was evaluated. Finally, the specimens were divided into high and low infiltration groups. The differential expression between the two groups was analyzed using the R package ‘edgeR’. Univariate, multivariate and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) Cox regression analyses were performed to explore the prognostic value of TME-related lncRNAs. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional analyses were also performed. The Connectivity Map (CMap) data set was used to screen molecular drugs that may treat UM. RESULTS: A total of 2393 differentially expressed genes were identified and met the criteria for the low and high immune cell infiltration groups. Univariate Cox analysis of lncRNA genes with differential expression identified 186 genes associated with prognosis. Eight prognostic markers of TME-included lncRNA genes were established as potentially independent prognostic elements. Among 269 differentially expressed lncRNAs, 69 were up-regulated and 200 were down-regulated. Univariate Cox regression analysis of the risk indicators and clinical characteristics of the 8 lncRNA gene constructs showed that age, TNM stage, tumor base diameter, and low and high risk indices had significant prognostic value. We screened the potential small-molecule drugs for UM, including W-13, AH-6809 and Imatinib. CONCLUSION: The prognostic markers identified in this study are reliable biomarkers of UM. This study expands our current understanding of the role of TME-related lncRNAs in UM genesis, which may lay the foundations for future treatment of this disease.


2013 ◽  
Vol 66 (11) ◽  
pp. 911-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Hun Bae ◽  
Patric J Jansson ◽  
Michael L Huang ◽  
Zaklina Kovacevic ◽  
Danuta Kalinowski ◽  
...  

N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) has been well characterised to act as a metastatic suppressor in a number of human cancers. It has also been implicated to have a significant function in a number of physiological processes such as cellular differentiation and cell cycle. In this review, we discuss the role of NDRG1 in cancer pathology. NDRG1 was observed to be downregulated in the majority of cancers. Moreover, the expression of NDRG1 was found to be significantly lower in neoplastic tissues as compared with normal tissues. The most important function of NDRG1 in inhibiting tumour progression is associated with its ability to suppress metastasis. However, it has also been shown to have important effects on other stages of cancer progression (primary tumour growth and angiogenesis). Recently, novel iron chelators with selective antitumour activity (ie, Dp44mT, DpC) were shown to upregulate NDRG1 in cancer cells. Moreover, Dp44mT showed its antimetastatic potential only in cells expressing NDRG1, making this protein an important therapeutic target for cancer chemotherapy. This observation has led to increased interest in the examination of these novel anticancer agents.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 5651
Author(s):  
Eleftheria Papaioannou ◽  
María del Pilar González-Molina ◽  
Ana M. Prieto-Muñoz ◽  
Laura Gámez-Reche ◽  
Alicia González-Martín

Cancer immunology research has mainly focused on the role of protein-coding genes in regulating immune responses to tumors. However, despite more than 70% of the human genome is transcribed, less than 2% encodes proteins. Many non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), have been identified as critical regulators of immune cell development and function, suggesting that they might play important roles in orchestrating immune responses against tumors. In this review, we summarize the scientific advances on the role of ncRNAs in regulating adaptive tumor immunity, and discuss their potential therapeutic value in the context of cancer immunotherapy.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Li ◽  
Qun Li ◽  
Hong Jing ◽  
Jianghai Zhao ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundJumonjiC (JmjC) domain-containing protein 5 (JMJD5) plays an important role in cancer metabolism. However, the prognostic value of JMJD5 in most human cancers is still unknown. In this study, we aim to investigate the expression and prognostic value of JMJD5, immune cells infiltration, and the correlations among them. MethodsWe performed a detailed cancer vs. normal analysis of JMJD5 mRNA expression via online Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER). The protein expressions of JMJD5 in various cancers vs. adjacent normal tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) of tissue microarray sections (TMAs). Moreover, the Kaplan-Meier Plotter databases were used to evaluate the prognostic values in above cancers. The correlations between JMJD5 expression level and abundances of six immune infiltrating cells (B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells) were explored by TIMER database in breast cancer (BRCA), liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD). The prognostic values of tumor- infiltrating immune cells were also investigated by TIMER in above four cancers. Finally, the COX proportional hazards model was used to investigate the correlations among clinical outcome, the abundance of immune cell infiltrates and the expression of JMJD5 in above four cancer types.ResultsThe expression of JMJD5 was significantly lower in human breast carcinoma (BRCA), cholangiocarcinoma (CHOL), liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) and lung cancer (LUC) but higher in prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) and stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) comparing to their respective normal tissues. And high expression of JMJD5 has better prognosis only in BRCA, LIHC, LUC but the opposite effect in STAD. JMJD5 expression is significant correlation with the abundance of six immune cells infiltration in above four cancers. Both the BRCA or lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients with abundance of B cell and the STAD patients with low level of macrophage have a better cumulative survival. ConclusionsWe provided novel evidence of JMJD5 as an essential prognostic biomarker in cancers through analyses the correlation of the JMJD5 expression, tumor-infiltrating B cells and macrophages and prognostic value. This study offers new perspectives therapeutic target in BRCA, LUAD and STAD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongfeng Li ◽  
Xinmiao Rui ◽  
Daobao Chen ◽  
Haojun Xuan ◽  
Hongjian Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 20 (SNHG20) is a novel oncogene and dysregulated in a variety of human cancers. It has been revealed to be associated with the clinicopathological features and prognosis. However, the prognostic value of SNHG20 in various cancers remains unclear. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between SNHG20 expression and clinical outcomes in human cancers.Methods: Comprehensive literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and Wangfang databases, and eligible studies were obtained according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) were applied to assess the clinical value of SNHG20 expression for overall survival (OS) and clinicopathological features.Results: A total of 16 articles including 1190 cancer patients were included in the study. The pooled results demonstrated that evaluated SNHG20 expression was positively related to a poorer OS of cancers (HR=2.36, 95%CI: 1.85-2.87, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that SNHG20 overexpression was closely related to the low OS of patients with the digestive system cancer (HR=2.92, 95%CI: 1.96-3.88, P<0.001), sample size >80 (HR=2.42, 95%CI: 1.69-3.14, P<0.001), direct HR estimation method (HR=2.65, 95%CI: 1.78-3.52, P<0.001), and median ratio as cut-off value (HR=2.21, 95%CI: 1.60-2.83, P<0.001). In addition, the pooled data also showed that SNHG20 was positively linked to lymph node metastasis (LNM) (OR=1.65, 95%CI: 1.21-2.26, P=0.002), distant metastasis (DM) (OR=1.76, 95%CI: 1.10-2.83, P=0.02), and advanced TNM stage (OR=1.79, 95%CI: 1.34-2.39, P<0.001). Moreover, the results of the trim and fill analysis confirmed the reliability of our finding. Conclusions: Upregulation of SNHG20 was associated with advanced TNM stage, worse LNM and DM, and shorter OS, suggesting that SNHG20 may serve as a biomarker for prognosis and clinicopathological characteristics in human cancers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chujia Chen ◽  
Zhiyong Yang ◽  
Qiuchan Zhao ◽  
Bangming Xu ◽  
Donglin Cao

Abstract Background Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common malignant gynecological tumors, but its pathogenesis is unclear. Bromine domain protein 4 (BRD4) is involved in the malignant transformation of cells, as well as the invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. The biological role of BRD4 in ovarian cancer is yet to be determined. Methods The differential expression of BRD4 in OC and corresponding normal tissues was evaluated by exploring the Tumor Immune Assessment Resources (TIMER) and the Oncomine database. The correlation between the expression level of BRD4 and the prognosis of OC patients was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier Plotter database. Using TIMER, we further studied the correlation between BRD4 and tumor immune cell infiltration. Results The expression of BRD4 was significantly higher in patients with OC, and high BRD4 expression was closely related to low overall survival rate. The BRD4 expression was associated with the levels of immune markers of macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils, and various effector T cells. Taken together, these findings show that BRD4 expression is significantly related to immune infiltration in OC and suggest that BRD4 might play an important role in the immune evasion of OC cells. Conclusion The expression level of BRD4 in OC tissues is significantly upregulated, and its high expression is significantly associated with poor prognosis of patients and is closely related to tumor immune infiltration. These results suggest that BRD4 can be used as a prognostic marker and a marker of immune infiltration in OC.


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