Figure 4: Correlation between CRYAB expression and immune infiltration in CRC.

Abstract

Background αB-Crystallin (CRYAB) is differentially expressed in various tumors. However, the correlation between CRYAB and immune cell infiltration in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. Materials & Methods Kaplan–Meier survival curves in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used to evaluate the relationship between CRYAB expression and both overall survival and progression-free survival. The relationships between CRYAB expression and infiltrating immune cells and their corresponding gene marker sets were examined using the TIMER database. Results The expression of CRYAB was lower in CRC tumor tissues than in normal tissues (P < 0.05). High CRYAB gene expression and high levels of CRYAB gene methylation were correlated with high-grade malignant tumors and more advanced tumor, nodes and metastasis (TNM) cancer stages. In addition, in colorectal cancer, there was a positive correlation between CRYAB expression and immune infiltrating cells including neutrophils, macrophages, CD8 + T cells, and CD4 + T cells, as well as immune-related genes including CD2, CD3D, and CD3E. Methylation sites such as cg13084335, cg15545878, cg13210534, and cg15318568 were positively correlated with low expression of CRYAB. Conclusion Because CRYAB likely plays an important role in immune cell infiltration, it may be a potential tumor-suppressor gene in CRC and a potential novel therapeutic target and predictive biomarker for colorectal cancer (CRC).