Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis and Validation of the Prognostic Value of Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: s function in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has rarely been addressed. We intend to explore the prognostic significance and therapeutic meaning of in HCC in this study.

Methods: Multiple common databases were integrated to analyze the expression status and prognostic meaning of in HCC. The relationship between mRNA level and clinical features was also assessed. Multiple enrichment analyses of the differentially expressed genes between high- and low- transcription groups were constructed by using R software (version 4.0.2). A Search Tool for Retrieval of Interacting Genes database was used to construct the protein-protein interaction network between and other proteins. A tumor immune estimation resource database was employed to identify the relationship between expression and immune cell infiltrates. The prognostic value of expression was validated in our HCC cohort by immunohistochemistry test.

Results: The transcription of mRNA was positively correlated with tumor histologic grade (p < 0.001), T classification (p < 0.001), and tumor stage (p < 0.001). High transcription of in HCC predicted a dismal overall survival (p = 0.0037) and recurrence-free survival (p < 0.001). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, Gene Ontology, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis all revealed that was involved in the regulation of cell cycle, DNA replication, and immune-related pathways. Tumor immune estimation analysis revealed that transcription was positively related to multiple immune cell infiltrates and the expressions of and .

Conclusion: was demonstrated to be a dismal prognostic factor and a potential biomarker for immune therapy in HCC in that it may be involved in the immune-related signaling pathways.