Prognostic and Immunological Role of FUN14 Domain Containing 1 in Pan-Cancer: Friend or Foe?

Qingchen Yuan; Na Sun; Jiayu Zheng; Yingxuan Wang; Xiaole Yan; Wuqian Mai; Yuhua Liao; Xiao Chen

doi:10.3389/fonc.2019.01502

Prognostic and Immunological Role of FUN14 Domain Containing 1 in Pan-Cancer: Friend or Foe?

Front Oncol. 2020 Jan 10:9:1502. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2019.01502. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Qingchen Yuan^{1

2}, Na Sun³, Jiayu Zheng^{1

2}, Yingxuan Wang^{1

2}, Xiaole Yan^{1

2}, Wuqian Mai^{1

2}, Yuhua Liao^{1

2}, Xiao Chen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Tongji Medical College, Union Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
² Key Lab of Molecular Biological Targeted Therapies of the Ministry of Education, Tongji Medical College, Union Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
³ Department of Pathogen Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

Background: FUN14 domain containing 1 (FUNDC1) plays a pivotal role in mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy), which is closely associated with human immunity. However, the role of FUNDC1 in cancers remains unclear. This study aimed to visualize the prognostic landscape of FUNDC1 in pan-cancer and investigate the relationship between FUNDC1 expression and immune infiltration. Methods: In this study, we explored the expression pattern and prognostic value of FUNDC1 in pan-cancer across multiple databases, including ONCOMINE, PrognoScan, GEPIA, and Kaplan-Meier Plotter. Then, using the GEPIA and TIMER databases, we investigated the correlations between FUNDC1 expression and immune infiltration in cancers, especially liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). Results: In general, compared with that in normal tissue, tumor tissue had a higher expression level of FUNDC1. Although FUNDC1 showed a protective effect on pan-cancer, a high expression level of FUNDC1 was detrimental to the survival of LIHC patients. Although different from what was found for LUSC, for LIHC, there were significant positive correlations between FUNDC1 expression and immune infiltrates, including B cells, CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Furthermore, markers of infiltrating immune cells, such as tumor-associated-macrophages (TAMs), exhibited different FUNDC1-related immune infiltration patterns. Conclusion: The mitophagy regulator FUNDC1 can serve as a prognostic biomarker in pan-cancer and is correlated with immune infiltrates.

Keywords: database; immune infiltration; mitophagy; pan-cancer; survival analysis; tumor microenvironment.