Comprehensive analysis of protein phosphatase 1 regulatory inhibitor subunit 14B, a molecule related to tumorigenesis, poor prognosis, and immune cell infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between Protein Phosphatase 1 Regulatory Inhibitor Subunit 14B (PPP1R14B) and the occurrence of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).

METHOD

PPP1R14B expression was investigated using various databases, and its molecular functions and pathways were evaluated using Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA) and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). Then, the correlation between tumor mutations and PPP1R14B expression was analyzed. Furthermore, the regulation network and expression pathway axes of PPP1R14B were constructed. The correlation analysis between PPP1R14B and immune cell infiltration was performed using deconvolution algorithm analysis and the Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm. Finally, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of the clinical samples were used for expression validation.

RESULTS

PPP1R14B showed high expression in tumor tissue. PPP1R14B was associated with T and N stages and poor prognosis and was linked to the cell cycle, DNA repair, and low immune response. High PPP1R14B expression was associated with high tumor mutation rates. The upstream and downstream genes of PPP1R14B were identified, along with the construction of a protein-protein interaction network (PPI network) and the expression pathway axes of PPP1R14B. PPP1R14B expression was associated with poor immune cell infiltration and a negative correlation between PPP1R14B and mast cell and eosinophil infiltration.

CONCLUSION

This study reveals high PPP1R14B expression in LUAD, its contribution to poor prognosis, molecular function, biological pathways, and impact on immune cell infiltration, and provides great insight into the role of PPP1R14B in LUAD tumorigenesis.