Frontiers in Oncology (Mar 2023)

Identification of an immune subtype-related prognostic signature of clear cell renal cell carcinoma based on single-cell sequencing analysis

  • Zongyao Fan,
  • Zongyao Fan,
  • Hewei Xu,
  • Hewei Xu,
  • Qingyu Ge,
  • Qingyu Ge,
  • Weilong Li,
  • Weilong Li,
  • Junjie Zhang,
  • Junjie Zhang,
  • Yannan Pu,
  • Zhengsen Chen,
  • Zhengsen Chen,
  • Sicong Zhang,
  • Sicong Zhang,
  • Jun Xue,
  • Jun Xue,
  • Baixin Shen,
  • Baixin Shen,
  • Liucheng Ding,
  • Liucheng Ding,
  • Zhongqing Wei,
  • Zhongqing Wei

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1067987
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

Read online

BackgroundThere is growing evidence that immune cells are strongly associated with the prognosis and treatment of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Our aim is to construct an immune subtype-related model to predict the prognosis of ccRCC patients and to provide guidance for finding appropriate treatment strategies.MethodsBased on single-cell analysis of the GSE152938 dataset from the GEO database, we defined the immune subtype-related genes in ccRCC. Immediately afterwards, we used Cox regression and Lasso regression to build a prognostic model based on TCGA database. Then, we carried out a series of evaluation analyses around the model. Finally, we proved the role of VMP1 in ccRCC by cellular assays.ResultInitially, based on TCGA ccRCC patient data and GEO ccRCC single-cell data, we successfully constructed a prognostic model consisting of five genes. Survival analysis showed that the higher the risk score, the worse the prognosis. We also found that the model had high predictive accuracy for patient prognosis through ROC analysis. In addition, we found that patients in the high-risk group had stronger immune cell infiltration and higher levels of immune checkpoint gene expression. Finally, cellular experiments demonstrated that when the VMP1 gene was knocked down, 786-O cells showed reduced proliferation, migration, and invasion ability and increased levels of apoptosis.ConclusionOur study can provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with ccRCC.

Keywords