Abstract
BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world, and due to its complex pathogenic factors, its prognosis is poor. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation plays an important role in the tumorigenesis, progression, and prognosis of many tumors. The m6A RNA methylation regulator small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptide C (SNRPC), which encodes one of the specific protein components of the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) particle, has been proven to be related to the prognosis of patients with HCC. However, the effect of SNRPC on the tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy in HCC remains unclear.Case presentationThe HCC RNA-seq profiles in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases, including 421 LIHC and 440 LIRI-JP samples, respectively, were used in this study. Both the expression of SNRPC in HCC was upregulated in the TCGA and ICGC databases compared to normal tissues. Next, the expression of SNRPC was validated as a risk factor for prognosis by Kaplan-Meier analysis and employed to establish a nomogram with T pathologic stage. By gene set variation (GSVA) analysis and gene set enrichment (GSEA) analysis, we found that SNRPC was mainly related to protein metabolism and the immune process. Furthermore, the estimation of stromal and immune cells in malignant tumor tissues using expression (ESTIMATE), microenvironment cell population counter (MCP-counter), and single sample GSEA (ssGSEA) algorithms revealed that the high-SNRPC group had a lower stromal score, lower abundance of endothelial cells and fibroblasts, and lower immune infiltration. Ultimately, a tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) analysis revealed that patients in the low-SNRPC group may be more sensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.ConclusionSNRPC could serve as a promising prognostic and immunotherapeutic marker in HCC and might contribute to new directions and strategies for HCC treatment.
Highlights
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world, and due to its complex pathogenic factors, its prognosis is poor
The results of both the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases suggested that SNRP C expression was upregulated in patients with HCC compared to normal samples (Fig. 1A, B)
small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptide C (SNRPC) is related to the survival of HCC A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was drawn, and the results showed that in both the TCGA and ICGC databases, the low-SNRPC groups had a high survival
Summary
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world, and due to its complex pathogenic factors, its prognosis is poor. Case presentation: The HCC RNA-seq profiles in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases, including 421 LIHC and 440 LIRI-JP samples, respectively, were used in this study. Both the expression of SNRPC in HCC was upregulated in the TCGA and ICGC databases compared to normal tissues. The estimation of stromal and immune cells in malignant tumor tissues using expression (ESTIMATE), microenvironment cell population counter (MCP-counter), and single sample GSEA (ssGSEA) algorithms revealed that the high-SNRPC group had a lower stromal score, lower abundance of endothelial cells and fibroblasts, and lower immune infiltration. Knowledge of the biomarkers for predicting the responses or primary resistance to immunotherapeutic agents is crucial for establishing immunotherapy criteria for HCC patients in the future
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
