Predicting prognosis and drug sensitivity in bladder cancer: an insight into Pan-programmed cell death patterns regulated by M6A modifications

Abstract

Abstract The team aimed to explore the possible functional significance of M6A regulation in Pan-programmed cell death (PCD) among patients with bladder cancer (BLCA). In BLCA patients, the analysis was conducted on the13 patterns of programmed cell death (PCD) and the regulation of M6A. Transcriptome, genomics, and clinical data were collected from TCGA-BLCA, GEO32548, and IMvigor210. Consensus clustering analysis, functional enrichment analysis, and other prognostic tools were used to validate the Pan-PCD. Finally, in vitro experiments and transcription sequencing were performed to understand the potential influence of the PI3K pathway on Pan-PCD in BLCA patients. Diverse PCD patterns were simultaneously activated, and M6A regulators exhibited significant variability in bladder malignant tissues. The machine learning algorithm established an 8-gene M6A-related Pan-PCD signature. This signature was validated in three independent datasets, and BLCA patients with higher risk scores had worse prognosis. An unsupervised clustering approach identified activated and suppressed Pan-PCD subgroups of BLCA patients, with distinct responses to immunotherapy and drug sensitivity. In addition, the PI3K pathway was identified as a key mechanism for various forms of programmed cell death, encompassing apoptosis, pyroptosis, autophagy, and cell death dependent on lysosomes. This research revealed that the Pan-PCD model was a more promising approach for BLCA patients under M6A regulation. A new signature from M6A-related Pan-PCD was proposed, with prognostic value for survival or drug sensitivity. The PI3K pathway was a key mechanism for multiple PCDs in BLCA patients.

Keywords

• Programmed cell death
• M6A regulation
• Bladder cancer
• PI3K pathway