RESUMEN
Background: LINC02560 is a new 477 bp long non-coding RNA located in 19q13.43. However, the expression of LINC02560 in colorectal cancer (CRC) has not been reported, and its correlation with tumor development and function is still unclear. Methods: The expression of LINC02560 in CRC was first analyzed in the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) combined with The Genotype-Tissue Expression(GTEx) databases and then validated by clinical CRC samples and cell lines. The association between LINC02560 expression and clinicopathologic variables was analyzed by the Wilcoxon Rank SUM test. Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier plots were used to assess the prognostic value of LINC02560 in CRC. The correlation between the expression level of LINC02560 and the 24 immune cells in tumor microenvironment (TME) was analyzed by single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA). Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to detect potential biological processes associated with LINC02560 in CRC. Results: LINC02560 was significantly up-regulated in CRC in comparison to normal samples. There are significant differences in the expression of LINC02560 in different subgroups of N stage, M stage, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level, residual tumor, TP53 status and pathological stage. The high LINC02560 expression indicated poor overall survival (OS) and progress free interval (PFI) in patients with CRC. Moreover, the multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that the expression of LINC02560 was an independent prognosis-predicting factor for OS in CRC patients. GSEA indicated that high expression of LINC02560 was involved in MAPK, Wnt, and PPAR signaling pathways and participated in humoral immune processes. We also identified that LINC02560 expression had a negative correlation with 4 kinds of immune cells. Conclusions: In summary, our research results indicate that LINC02560 may be a potential prognostic biomarker. It is involved in the occurrence and development of CRC and may affect the prognosis of CRC patients by regulating immune cells in the TME.
RESUMEN
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the common malignant tumors. The prognosis and five-year survival rate of HCC are not promising due to tumor recurrence and metastasis. Exploring markers that contribute to the early diagnosis of HCC, markers for prognostic evaluation of HCC patients, and effective targets for treating HCC patients are in the spotlight of HCC therapy. Zinc Finger CCHC-Type Containing 17 (ZCCHC17) encodes the RNA binding protein ZCCHC17, but its role in HCC is still unclear. Here, 90 paraffin-embedded specimens combined with bioinformatics were used to comprehensively clarify the value of ZCCHC17 in the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC and its potential functions. Paraffin-embedded specimens were used to assess ZCCHC17 protein expression and its correlation with prognosis in 90 HCC patients. the public data sets of HCC patients from TCGA, ICG, and GEO databases were also used for further analysis. It was found that protein and mRNA levels of ZCCHC17 in HCC tissues were significantly higher than those in normal tissues. The abnormally high expression may be related to the abnormal DNA methylation of ZCCHC17 in tumor tissues. The high expression of ZCCHC17 is related to AFP, histologic grade, tumor status, vascular invasion, and pathological stage. Multi-data set analysis showed that patients with high ZCCHC17 expression had a worse prognosis, and multivariate cox regression analysis showed an independent prognostic significance of ZCCHC17. The results of functional analysis, including Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), indicate that ZCCHC17 is mainly involved in immune regulation. Subsequently, further single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) showed that the expression of ZCCHC17 was related to the infiltration of immune cells. Importantly, we also analyzed the relationship between ZCCHC17 and immune checkpoint genes, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI) and TP53 status in HCC patients and evaluated the role of ZCCHC17 in cancer immunotherapy. In summary, ZCCHC17 is a novel marker for the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of HCC. Concurrently, it regulates immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of HCC patients, which has a specific reference value for the immunotherapy of HCC.
