Identification of TNFAIP8 as an Immune-Related Biomarker Associated With Tumorigenesis and Prognosis in Cutaneous Melanoma Patients

Yuliang Sun; Jianxiong Zhao; Xiaoru Sun; Guangxin Ma

doi:10.3389/fgene.2021.783672

Identification of TNFAIP8 as an Immune-Related Biomarker Associated With Tumorigenesis and Prognosis in Cutaneous Melanoma Patients

Front Genet. 2021 Dec 1:12:783672. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.783672. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yuliang Sun^{1

2}, Jianxiong Zhao³, Xiaoru Sun⁴, Guangxin Ma⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopedics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China.
² Department of Hand Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Experimental Teratology, Department of Human Anatomy, Ministry of Education, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
⁵ Hematology and Oncology Unit, Department of Geriatrics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China.

Abstract

Tumor necrosis factor-α-induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8) is a member of the TIPE/TNFAIP8 family which is associated with inflammation and tumorigenesis. The potential role of TNFAIP8 in a tumor immune microenvironment in skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) has not yet been investigated. The TNFAIP8 expression was evaluated via gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA). We also evaluated the influence of TNFAIP8 on overall survival via GEPIA and PrognoScan. After GO and KEGG pathway analyses, the correlation between the TNFAIP8 expression level and immune cells or gene markers of the immune infiltration level was explored by R-language. The result showed the TNFAIP8 expression was significantly reduced in SKCM in comparison with normal control. In SKCM, the TNFAIP8 expression in higher levels was associated with the better overall survival. The high expression of TNFAIP8 was positively correlated with the immune score and promoted immune cell infiltration in SKCM patients. TNFAIP8 can be a positive prognosis marker or new immunotherapy target in SKCM.

Keywords: SKCM; TNFAIP8; biomarker; immune infiltration; prognostic value.