Pan-cancer analysis of as a candidate prognostic biomarker and associated with immune infiltration.

BACKGROUND

DEP domain containing 1 (DEPDC1) gene is upregulated in several malignancies and contributes to tumorigenesis. Although the role of DEPDC1 in tumor is becoming increasingly popular, the function of DEPDC1 in pan-cancer still needs to be systematically elucidated.

METHODS

Data were downloaded from Genotype-Tissue Expression Data (GTEx), The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) TIMER2.0, TISIDB, STRING, and CancerSEA databases and analyzed to determine the functionality of the . The results were visualized using tools provided by the databases and the R language.

RESULTS

The results showed that was significantly upregulated in 29 of the 33 human cancers analyzed. In addition, there were significant differences in expression among cancer immune and molecular subtypes. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that was mainly involved in the cell cycle, and CancerSEA analysis showed that promoted cell cycle, DNA repair, DNA damage, and proliferation in pan-cancer. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed high predictive accuracy for pan-cancer. expression was positively correlated with activated CD4 T helper 2 cells and common lymphoid progenitor cells, and negatively correlated with natural killer (NK) T cells, CD4 central memory T cells, and CD4 effector memory T cells. Furthermore, was significantly positively correlated with T cell exhaustion marker genes, such as , transforming growth factor beta receptor 1 (TGFBR1), kinase insert domain receptor (KDR), programmed cell death 1 ligand 2 (PDCD1LG2), granzyme B (), and granulysin (). Additionally, was associated with overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and progress-free interval (PFI) prognosis in multiple tumor types. The ROC analysis showed high predictive accuracy for pan-cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, is aberrantly expressed and plays an immune-oncogenic role in pan-cancer, and may serve as a biomarker for cancer diagnosis and therapy.