Wang Li, Huang Guofu, Xiao Han, Leng Xiaoling
The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China.
Dongguan Institute of Clinical Cancer Research, Dongguan Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis and Treatment for Tumors, The Tenth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Dongguan People's Hospital), Dongguan, China.
Heliyon. 2024 Aug 30;10(17):e37213. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e37213. eCollection 2024 Sep 15.
Meteorin (METRN) is expressed predominantly in the central nervous system (CNS), where it functions by regulating glial cell differentiation and promoting axonal elongation. Nonetheless, its function within tumors is still not well understood. In this study, we focused on investigating its expression across various cancers and delving deeper into how METRN expression correlates with prognosis and immune infiltration.
We explored METRN expression patterns in pan-cancers utilizing data obtained from the UCSC Xena and TCGA. In addition, analyses of survival and clinical association were conducted for tumors where METRN could affect the prognosis. Subsequently, nomogram models were constructed for sarcoma (SARC) and prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) to verify METRN's prognostic value in tumors. Furthermore, we also discussed the link between METRN and immune infiltration. As far as mechanisms are concerned, functional enrichment analysis was conducted to analyze the functional components and signaling pathways involved in METRN.
This study found that METRN was abnormally expressed in various tumors, closely connected with the prognosis and clinical characteristics of several tumors, and had good prognostic value. Moreover, analysis of immune infiltration revealed that METRN interacts with multiple immune cells, with alterations in the immune microenvironment potentially influencing tumor prognosis. Enrichment analysis indicates that METRN may influence tumorigenesis and progression through immune-related pathways.
To sum up, our study demonstrates that METRN can be a prospective predictive biomarker in diverse cancer types and a promising target for cancer immunotherapy for pan-cancer.
陨石蛋白（METRN）主要在中枢神经系统（CNS）中表达，其通过调节胶质细胞分化和促进轴突伸长发挥作用。尽管如此，其在肿瘤中的功能仍未得到充分了解。在本研究中，我们专注于研究其在各种癌症中的表达，并深入探讨METRN表达与预后和免疫浸润的相关性。
我们利用从加州大学圣克鲁兹分校Xena数据库和癌症基因组图谱（TCGA）获得的数据，探索泛癌中METRN的表达模式。此外，对METRN可能影响预后的肿瘤进行了生存分析和临床关联分析。随后，构建了肉瘤（SARC）和前列腺腺癌（PRAD）的列线图模型，以验证METRN在肿瘤中的预后价值。此外，我们还讨论了METRN与免疫浸润之间的联系。就机制而言，进行了功能富集分析，以分析参与METRN的功能成分和信号通路。
本研究发现，METRN在各种肿瘤中异常表达，与几种肿瘤的预后和临床特征密切相关，具有良好的预后价值。此外，免疫浸润分析表明，METRN与多种免疫细胞相互作用，免疫微环境的改变可能影响肿瘤预后。富集分析表明，METRN可能通过免疫相关途径影响肿瘤发生和进展。
综上所述，我们的研究表明，METRN可以作为多种癌症类型中的一种有前景的预测生物标志物，也是泛癌免疫治疗的一个有希望的靶点。
