The hallmark of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an exuberant tumor microenvironment (TME) comprised of diverse cell types that play key roles in carcinogenesis, chemo-resistance, and immune evasion. Here, we propose a gene signature score through the characterization of cell components in TME for promoting personalized treatments and further identifying effective therapeutic targets. We identified three TME subtypes based on cell components quantified by single sample gene set enrichment analysis. A prognostic risk score model (TMEscore) was established based on TME-associated genes using a random forest algorithm and unsupervised clustering, followed by validation in immunotherapy cohorts from the GEO dataset for its performance in predicting prognosis. Importantly, TMEscore positively correlated with the expression of immunosuppressive checkpoints and negatively with the gene signature of T cells' responses to IL2, IL15, and IL21. Subsequently, we further screened and verified F2R-like Trypsin Receptor1 (F2RL1) among the core genes related to TME, which promoted the malignant progression of PDAC and has been confirmed as a good biomarker with therapeutic potential in vitro and in vivo experiments. Taken together, we proposed a novel TMEscore for risk stratification and selection of PDAC patients in immunotherapy trials and validated effective pharmacological targets.
Keywords: F2RL1; immune microenvironment; immunotherapy; molecular subtype; pancreatic cancer; prognosis; therapeutic target.