OncoTargets and Therapy (Sep 2021)

Identification and Experimental Validation of Immune-Associate lncRNAs for Predicting Prognosis in Cervical Cancer

  • Ye J,
  • Chen X,
  • Lu W

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 4721 – 4734

Abstract

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Jing Ye,1 Xiaojing Chen,2 Weiguo Lu1 1Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 2Women’s Reproductive Health Laboratory of Zhejiang Province, Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jing YeDepartment of Gynecologic Oncology, Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310000, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of ChinaTel + 86-13588756826Email [email protected]: Cervical cancer (CC) is a major risk for health of modern women. Immune-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can also serve as prognostic markers of overall survival (OS) in patients with CC. This study aimed to identify an immune-related lncRNA signature for the prospective assessment of prognosis in CC patients.Methods: We first calculated immune scores of CC patients in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Univariate Cox, Lasso Cox and multivariate Cox regression analyses were perfumed to establish an immune-relative lncRNA signature. In addition, we processed pathway enrichment analysis and immune infiltration analysis between patients with higher or lower risk. Finally, T-cell Chemotaxis assays were processed to verify the function of 2 key lncRNAs.Results: Our results suggested that patients with higher immune scores had longer survival time and some lncRNAs expressed differentially between two groups. Eight lncRNAs (LINC02802, LINC01877, RBAKDN, LINC02480, WWC2-AS2, LINC01281, ZBTB20-AS1, IFNG-AS1) were identified as prognostic signatures for CC. The immune-related lncRNA signature was correlated with disease progression and worse prognosis. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that the expression of 8-lncRNA signatures were corrected with infiltration level of immune cell subtypes. In addition, T-cell Chemotaxis assay validated that 2 key lncRNAs (ZBTB20-AS1 and LINC01281) could significantly promote the migration ability of T cells to CC cells.Conclusion: Our finding demonstrated the value of lncRNAs in evaluating the immune infiltrate of the tumor. The 8-lncRNA signature could predict the prognosis of CC and contribute to decisions regarding the immunotherapeutic strategy.Keywords: cervical cancer, immune-associated cell, long non-coding RNA, prognosis model, the Cancer Genome Atlas

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