Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery Department, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
Bioengineered. 2021 Dec;12(1):5004-5016. doi: 10.1080/21655979.2021.1958634.
Thymoma is the most common primary mass in anterior mediastinum. Although associated with low malignancy, it is often accompanied by myasthenia gravis resulting in poor prognosis. Due to the dual factors of tumor immune tolerance and autoimmune reaction, it is urgent to understand the immune status of MG with thymoma. In this study, RNA sequencing data were obtained from the TCGA and GEO cohorts to identify differentially expressed messenger RNAs and infiltrated immune cells. A total of 121 samples in TCGA and 43 samples in GEO were screened out. The infiltrated immune cells were identified by CIBERSORT, in which Tfh cells and activated DC cells were abnormal in thymoma patients. The differently expressed genes were performed by package LIMMA. The functional characteristics of differently expression genes were analyzed by GO and KEGG; one GO and seven KEGG pathways were both found in both TCGA and GEO cohorts. Meanwhile, 27 common differently expressed genes were obtained and were displayed by a Venn diagram. The TRRUST was used to screen the hub genes for the common 27 different genes and 6 genes were found. Then, PPI networks were constructed. Subsequently, the relationship between SCNAs of common genes and related immune cells tested by TIMER. Kaplan-Meier plots, ROC curve and Cox's expression model for immune infiltration and hub genes were also tested. In conclusion, we found that two types of immune infiltrated cells and six hub genes can predict the occurrence of myasthenia gravis in thymoma patients.
胸腺瘤是前纵隔最常见的原发性肿块。尽管恶性程度较低，但常伴有重症肌无力，导致预后不良。由于肿瘤免疫耐受和自身免疫反应的双重因素，迫切需要了解伴有胸腺瘤的重症肌无力的免疫状态。在这项研究中，从 TCGA 和 GEO 队列中获取了 RNA 测序数据，以鉴定差异表达的信使 RNA 和浸润免疫细胞。在 TCGA 中筛选出 121 个样本，在 GEO 中筛选出 43 个样本。通过 CIBERSORT 鉴定浸润免疫细胞，其中胸腺瘤患者的滤泡辅助性 T 细胞和活化的 DC 细胞异常。通过 package LIMMA 对差异表达基因进行检测。通过 GO 和 KEGG 对差异表达基因的功能特征进行分析；在 TCGA 和 GEO 队列中均发现了一个 GO 和七个 KEGG 通路。同时，通过 Venn 图得到 27 个共同的差异表达基因。通过 TRRUST 筛选出 27 个共同差异基因的 hub 基因，共发现 6 个基因。然后构建 PPI 网络。随后，通过 TIMER 测试了共同基因的 SCNAs 与相关免疫细胞之间的关系。还测试了免疫浸润和枢纽基因的 Kaplan-Meier 图、ROC 曲线和 Cox 表达模型。总之，我们发现两种免疫浸润细胞类型和六个枢纽基因可以预测胸腺瘤患者重症肌无力的发生。
