Comprehensive analysis of cuproptosis-related prognostic gene signature and tumor immune microenvironment in HCC

作者：Haotian Qin, Weibei Sheng, Geng Zhang, Qi Yang, Sen Yao, Yaohang Yue, Peng Zhang, Yuanchao Zhu, Qichang Wang, Yixiao Chen, Hui Zeng, Jian Weng, Fei Yu, Jun Yang · 发表于：Frontiers in Genetics · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3389/fgene.2023.1094793 · 被引用次数：19 · 研究领域：RNA modifications and cancer、Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis、MicroRNA in disease regulation

Background: Copper is an indispensable mineral element involved in many physiological metabolic processes. Cuproptosis is associated with a variety of cancer such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between the expression of cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) and tumor characteristics, including prognosis and microenvironment of HCC. Methods: The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between high and low CRGs expression groups in HCC samples were identified, and further were analyzed for functional enrichment analysis. Then, CRGs signature of HCC was constructed and analyzed utilizing LASSO and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Prognostic values of CRGs signature were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis, independent prognostic analysis and nomograph. The expression of prognostic CRGs was verified by Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) in HCC cell lines. In addition, the relationships between prognostic CRGs expression and the immune infiltration, tumor microenvironment, antitumor drugs response and m6A modifications were further explored using a series of algorithms in HCC. Finally, ceRNA regulatory network based on prognostic CRGs was constructed. Results: The DEGs between high and low CRG expression groups in HCC were mainly enriched in focal adhesion and extracellular matrix organization. Besides, we constructed a prognostic model that consists of CDKN2A, DLAT, DLST, GLS, and PDHA1 CRGs for predic...