Stonin1 (STON1) is an endocytic protein but its role in cancer remains unclear. Here, we investigated the immune role of STON1 in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC).
We undertook bioinformatics analyses of the expression and clinical significance of STON1 in KIRC through a series of public databases, and the role of STON1 in the tumor microenvironment and the predictive value for immunotherapy and targeted treatment in KIRC were identified with R packages. STON1 expression was validated in clinical KIRC tissues as well as in KIRC and normal renal tubular epithelial cells.
Through public databases, STON1 mRNA was found to be significantly downregulated in KIRC compared with normal controls, and decreased STON1 was related to grade, TNM stage, distant metastasis and status of KIRC patients. Compared with normal controls, STON1 was found to be downregulated in KIRC tissues and cell lines. Furthermore, OncoLnc, Kaplan-Meier, and GEPIA2 analyses also suggested that KIRC patients with high STON1 expression had better overall survival. The high STON1 group with enriched immune cells had a more favorable prognosis than the low STON1 group with decreased immune cells. Single sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and Gene Set Variation Analysis indicated that STON1 creates an immune non-inflamed phenotype in KIRC. Moreover, STON1 was positively associated with mismatch repair proteins and negatively correlated with tumor mutational burden. Furthermore, Single sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis algorithm and Pearson analysis found that the low STON1 group was more sensitive to immune checkpoint blockage whereas the high STON1 group was relatively suitable for targeted treatment.
Decreased STON1 expression in KIRC leads to clinical progression and poor survival. Mechanically, low STON1 expression is associated with an aberrant tumor immune microenvironment. Low STON1 is likely to be a favorable indicator for immunotherapy response but adverse indicator for targeted therapeutics in KIRC.
BMC cancer. 2023 Feb 09*** epublish ***
Axiu Zheng, Jianrong Bai, Yanping Ha, Yaping Yu, Yonghao Fan, Meihua Liang, Yanda Lu, Zhihua Shen, Botao Luo, Wei Jie
Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine Sciences; Pathology Diagnosis and Research Center of Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, 524023, PR China., Department of Oncology of the First Affliated Hospital; Oncology Institute, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571199, PR China., Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine Sciences; Pathology Diagnosis and Research Center of Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, 524023, PR China. ., Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine Sciences; Pathology Diagnosis and Research Center of Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, 524023, PR China. ., Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine Sciences; Pathology Diagnosis and Research Center of Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, 524023, PR China. .