Comprehensive Analysis Reveals That ISCA1 Is Correlated with Ferroptosis-Related Genes Across Cancers and Is a Biomarker in Thyroid Carcinoma.

Background: (Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembly 1) is involved in the assembly of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters, which are vital for electron transport and enzyme activity. Some studies suggest the potential involvement of in tumor progression through interactions with ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) and the tumor immune microenvironment (TME). However, there has been no systematic analysis of its role in FRGs and the TME or its predictive value for prognosis and immunotherapy response across different cancer types.

Methods: In this study, we analyzed the expression and prognosis of RNA, CNV, methylation, and protein in multiple tumor tissues via data from the TCGA and CPTAC databases and clinical information. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the correlations between and FRGs, immune-related genes (including immune regulatory genes and immune checkpoint genes), immune cell infiltration, immune infiltration scores, tumor stemness, and genomic heterogeneity.

Results: We performed drug prediction and validation through molecular docking and molecular dynamics analysis to identify candidate drugs that could promote or inhibit RNA expression. Our findings revealed that could serve as a biomarker in thyroid carcinoma, play a role with different FRGs in various cell types, and mediate different ligand-receptor pathways for cell-cell communication.

Conclusions: Overall, our study highlights the potential of as a novel biomarker for predicting prognosis and immunotherapeutic efficacy in thyroid carcinoma and suggests its potential for developing novel antitumor drugs or improving immunotherapy.