Rigopoulos Christos Panagiotis, Gkoris Marios, Georgakopoulos-Soares Ilias, Boulalas Ioannis, Zaravinos Apostolos
Department of Life Sciences, School of Sciences, European University Cyprus, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus.
Cancer Genetics, Genomics and Systems Biology Laboratory, Basic and Translational Cancer Research Center (BTCRC), 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jun 16;26(12):5772. doi: 10.3390/ijms26125772.
Tumor development is mainly marked by the gradual transformation of cells that acquire capacities such as sustained growth signaling, evasion of growth suppression, resistance to cell death, and induction of angiogenesis, achieving replicative immortality and activating invasion and metastasis. How different epigenetic alterations like mA, mC, and mA contribute to tumor development is a field that still needs to be investigated. The immune modulators, CD70, CD80, and TIGIT, mainly regulate T-cell activation and consequently the immune evasion of tumors. Here, we explored the presence and the potential consequences of RNA modifications in these regulators in pan-cancer. Our findings highlight the critical role of the mA, mC, and mA in regulating CD70, CD80, and TIGIT across multiple solid tumors. By combining epitranscriptomics data with functional enrichment and survival modeling, we show that RNA modification enzymes not only modulate immune-related gene expression but also serve as potential biomarkers for patient prognosis. By constructing a robust four-gene prognostic signature involving YTHDF3, RBM15B, IGF2BP2, and TRMT61A, we demonstrate that RNA modification profiles can accurately stratify patients into risk groups with distinct overall survival outcomes. The performance of this model across eight cancer types underscores the translational promise of epitranscriptomic markers in both mechanistic understanding and personalized oncology. Altogether, our study bridges the gap between the mechanistic regulation of immune checkpoints and their clinical utility, offering novel insights into how the epitranscriptome can be leveraged to improve cancer prognosis and potentially enhance immunotherapeutic strategies.
肿瘤发展主要以细胞的逐渐转变为特征,这些细胞获得了诸如持续生长信号传导、逃避生长抑制、抵抗细胞死亡以及诱导血管生成等能力,从而实现复制永生并激活侵袭和转移。诸如mA、mC和mA等不同的表观遗传改变如何促进肿瘤发展仍是一个有待研究的领域。免疫调节因子CD70、CD80和TIGIT主要调节T细胞活化,进而调节肿瘤的免疫逃逸。在此,我们探讨了这些调节因子在泛癌中RNA修饰的存在情况及其潜在后果。我们的研究结果突出了mA、mC和mA在多种实体瘤中调节CD70、CD80和TIGIT的关键作用。通过将表观转录组学数据与功能富集和生存建模相结合,我们表明RNA修饰酶不仅调节免疫相关基因的表达,还可作为患者预后的潜在生物标志物。通过构建一个包含YTHDF3、RBM15B、IGF2BP2和TRMT61A的强大的四基因预后特征,我们证明RNA修饰谱可以准确地将患者分层为具有不同总生存结果的风险组。该模型在八种癌症类型中的表现强调了表观转录组学标志物在机制理解和个性化肿瘤学方面的转化前景。总之,我们的研究弥合了免疫检查点的机制调节与其临床应用之间的差距,为如何利用表观转录组改善癌症预后以及潜在增强免疫治疗策略提供了新的见解。