Construction and clinical evaluation of N6-methyladenosine risk signature of YTHDC2, IGF2BP2, and HNRNPC in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
- Author:
Qiangwei YUE
1
;
Le XU
1
;
Dongsheng ZHANG
1
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords: N6-methyladenosine; bioinformatic analysis; head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; prognostic risk signature; tumor immune microenvironment
- MeSH: Humans; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck/genetics*; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Prognosis; Head and Neck Neoplasms/genetics*; Tumor Microenvironment/genetics*; RNA-Binding Proteins/genetics*; Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group C/genetics*; RNA Helicases
- From: West China Journal of Stomatology 2022;40(6):704-709
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES:This work aimed to construct N6-methyladenosine (m6A) regulator-based prognostic signature and evaluate the prognostic value and the intervention on tumor immune microenvironment of this m6A risk signature.
METHODS:Using transcriptome and clinical data of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we profiled m6A regulators and constructed an m6A risk signature. The relationship between m6A modulation and immune function was studied by differential gene expression, cell type enrichment, and correlation analyses.
RESULTS:Fifteen m6A regulators had aberrant expression in HNSCC. A three-gene m6A prognostic signature (i.e., YTHDC2, IGF2BP2, and HNRNPC) was constructed and identified as an independent prognostic indicator for HNSCC. The m6A regulator signature-based high-risk group revealed pro-tumoral immune microenvironment due to the dysregulation of immune-related gene expression, abnormal enrichment of multiple immunocytes, and production of immunoregulatory factors.
CONCLUSIONS:This comprehensive analysis of m6A regulators and tumor immune landscape in HNSCC revealed that the m6A signature of YTHDC2, IGF2BP2, and HNRNPC could serve as a promising biomarker for monitoring HNSCC development and may be a potential target for tumor therapy in the future.
