Single-cell and spatial analyses of the GDF family in tumors, with a focus on the prognostic and biological role of GDF15 in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Growth differentiation factors (GDFs) are a subfamily of the TGF-β superfamily whose expression increases in response to cellular stress and disease. Despite emerging cell- or animal-based evidence supporting an association between the GDF subfamily and cancer, systematic pan-cancer analyses of the GDF subfamily based on single-cell and spatial transcriptomes remains unavailable. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the GDF subfamily in 33 cancers, including expression, diagnosis, methylation, prognostic value, immune infiltration analysis, and potential biological pathways.