Tian Wei-Jie, Feng Peng-Hui, Wang Jun, Yan Ting, Qin Qing-Feng, Li Dong-Lin, Liang Wen-Tong
Department of Gynecology, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Medical College of Guizhou University, Guiyang, China.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Front Mol Biosci. 2021 Apr 1;8:583028. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.583028. eCollection 2021.
The tumor microenvironment (TME) has an essential role in the development of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC); however, the dynamic role of the stromal and immune cells is still unclear in TME. We downloaded data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and applied ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms to measure the quantity of stromal and immune cells and the composition of tumor-infiltrating immune cell (TIC) in 253 CSCC cases. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and Cox regression analysis presented the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Then, C-C chemokine receptor type 7 () was screened out as a prognostic marker by the univariate Cox and intersection analysis of PPI. Further analysis showed a positive correlation between the expression of and the survival of CSCC patients. The result of the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of genes in the high expression group displayed a predominant enrichment in immune-related pathways. An enrichment in metabolic activities was observed in the low expression group. CIBERSORT analysis showed a positive correlation between Plasma cells, CD8 T cells, and regulatory T cells and the expression, suggesting that might play a crucial role in maintaining the immunological dominance status for TME. Therefore, the expression level of might help predict the survival of CSCC cases and be an index that the status of TME transitioned from immunological dominance to metabolic activation, which presented a new insight into the treatment of CSCC.
肿瘤微环境（TME）在宫颈鳞状细胞癌（CSCC）的发展中起着至关重要的作用；然而，基质细胞和免疫细胞在TME中的动态作用仍不清楚。我们从癌症基因组图谱（TCGA）数据库下载数据，并应用ESTIMATE和CIBERSORT算法来测量253例CSCC病例中基质细胞和免疫细胞的数量以及肿瘤浸润免疫细胞（TIC）的组成。蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络和Cox回归分析呈现了差异表达基因（DEG）。然后，通过单变量Cox分析和PPI的交集分析，筛选出C-C趋化因子受体7（）作为预后标志物。进一步分析表明，的表达与CSCC患者的生存率呈正相关。高表达组基因的基因集富集分析（GSEA）结果显示在免疫相关途径中显著富集。在低表达组中观察到代谢活动的富集。CIBERSORT分析显示浆细胞、CD8 T细胞和调节性T细胞与的表达呈正相关，表明可能在维持TME的免疫优势状态中起关键作用。因此，的表达水平可能有助于预测CSCC病例的生存率，并且是TME状态从免疫优势转变为代谢激活的一个指标，这为CSCC的治疗提供了新的见解。
