Scientific Reports (May 2021)

Transcript levels of spindle and kinetochore-associated complex 1/3 as prognostic biomarkers correlated with immune infiltrates in hepatocellular carcinoma

  • De-Chen Yu,
  • Xiang-Yi Chen,
  • Xin Li,
  • Hai-Yu Zhou,
  • De-Quan Yu,
  • Xiao-Lei Yu,
  • Yi-Cun Hu,
  • Rui-Hao Zhang,
  • Xiao-Bo Zhang,
  • Kun Zhang,
  • Jiang-Dong An

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89628-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

Read online

Abstract The spindle and kinetochore-associated protein complex (Ska) is an essential component in chromosome segregation. It comprises three proteins (Ska1, Ska2, and Ska3) with theorized roles in chromosomal instability and tumor development, and its overexpression has been widely reported in a variety of tumors. However, the prognostic significance and immune infiltration of Ska proteins in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not completely understood. The bioinformatics tools Oncomine, UALCAN, gene expression profiling interactive analysis 2 (GEPIA2), cBioPortal, GeneMANIA, Metascape, and TIMER were used to analyze differential expression, prognostic value, genetic alteration, and immune cell infiltration of the Ska protein complex in HCC patients. We found that the mRNA expression of the Ska complex was markedly upregulated in HCC. High expression of the Ska complex is closely correlated with tumor stage, patient race, tumor grade, and TP53 mutation status. In addition, high expression of the Ska complex was significantly correlated with poor disease-free survival, while the high expression levels of Ska1 and Ska3 were associated with shorter overall survival. The biological functions of the Ska complex in HCC primarily involve the amplification of signals from kinetochores, the mitotic spindle, and (via a MAD2 invasive signal) unattached kinetochores. Furthermore, the expression of the complex was positively correlated with tumor-infiltrating cells. These results may provide new insights into the development of immunotherapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for HCC.