International Journal of General Medicine (Feb 2022)
Comprehensive Analysis of the PROSER2-AS1-Related ceRNA Network and Immune Cell Infiltration in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Abstract
Tingting Wang,1 Qian Yu,2 Wei Zhang,1 Li Gao1 1Department of Endocrinology and Metabology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Key Laboratory of Rheumatic Disease and Translational Medicine, Shandong Institute of Nephrology, Ji’nan, 250014, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266003, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Tingting Wang, Email [email protected]: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is a malignant tumor of the endocrine system, and distant metastasis leads to poor prognosis for patients with PTC. The competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network and tumor-infiltrating immune cells might participate in tumor prognosis and distant metastasis. However, few studies have focused on ceRNAs and immune cells in PTC.Methods: We identified differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) using the GEO2R tool of the GEO database. Through comprehensive analysis, we selected lncRNA PROSER2-AS1 and constructed a PROSER2-AS1-mediated ceRNA network. Survival was analyzed with a Kaplan-Meier (KM) curve. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to determine the function of PROSER2-AS1 in the ceRNA network using TCGA database. Moreover, the relationship between PROSER2-AS1 and immune cell infiltration was analyzed with ssGSEA using the “GSVA” package in R.Results: Comprehensive analysis of the GSE66783 dataset revealed 105 significantly differentially expressed lncRNAs. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to assess the prognostic significance of the DELs, and we identified lncRNA PROSER2-AS1 as an independent factor for prognosis in PTC (p < 0.05). Considering the online tools LncRNASNP2 and miRWalk3.0, we constructed a PROSER2-AS1-related ceRNA network. Furthermore, the GSEA results suggested that PROSER2-AS1 may be involved in immune cell infiltration and that PROSER2-AS1 was correlated with 14 types of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. PROSER2-AS1 might function through TGFBR3.Conclusion: lncRNA PROSER2-AS1 and related mRNAs (TGFBR3) may be potential prognostic biomarkers in PTC and may correlate with immune infiltrates.Keywords: PROSER2-AS1, papillary thyroid carcinoma, immune cells, prognosis
