Thymoma is the most common primary mass in anterior mediastinum. Although associated with low malignancy, it is often accompanied by myasthenia gravis resulting in poor prognosis. Due to the dual factors of tumor immune tolerance and autoimmune reaction, it is urgent to understand the immune status of MG with thymoma. In this study, RNA sequencing data were obtained from the TCGA and GEO cohorts to identify differentially expressed messenger RNAs and infiltrated immune cells. A total of 121 samples in TCGA and 43 samples in GEO were screened out. The infiltrated immune cells were identified by CIBERSORT, in which Tfh cells and activated DC cells were abnormal in thymoma patients. The differently expressed genes were performed by package LIMMA. The functional characteristics of differently expression genes were analyzed by GO and KEGG; one GO and seven KEGG pathways were both found in both TCGA and GEO cohorts. Meanwhile, 27 common differently expressed genes were obtained and were displayed by a Venn diagram. The TRRUST was used to screen the hub genes for the common 27 different genes and 6 genes were found. Then, PPI networks were constructed. Subsequently, the relationship between SCNAs of common genes and related immune cells tested by TIMER. Kaplan-Meier plots, ROC curve and Cox's expression model for immune infiltration and hub genes were also tested. In conclusion, we found that two types of immune infiltrated cells and six hub genes can predict the occurrence of myasthenia gravis in thymoma patients.
Keywords: Tfh cell; Thymoma; activated DC cells; infiltrated immune cells; myasthenia gravis.