TUBA1C is a Prognostic Marker in Low-grade Glioma and Correlates with Immune Cell Infiltration in the Tumor Microenvironment

Hua Zhu; Xinyao Hu; Lijuan Gu; Zhihong Jian; Liqin Li; Siping Hu; Sheng Qiu; Xiaoxing Xiong

doi:10.3389/fgene.2021.759953

TUBA1C is a Prognostic Marker in Low-grade Glioma and Correlates with Immune Cell Infiltration in the Tumor Microenvironment

Front Genet. 2021 Oct 14:12:759953. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.759953. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hua Zhu^{1

2}, Xinyao Hu³, Lijuan Gu⁴, Zhihong Jian², Liqin Li¹, Siping Hu⁵, Sheng Qiu¹, Xiaoxing Xiong^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, The Affiliated Huzhou Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (Huzhou Central Hospital), Huzhou, China.
² Department of Neurosurgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
³ Cancer Center, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Central Laboratory, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
⁵ Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Huzhou Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (Huzhou Central Hospital), Huzhou, China.

Abstract

TUBA1C, a microtubule component, contributes to the development of several cancers. Our purpose was to study the expression of TUBA1C, its potential prognostic value, and its effects on the infiltration of immune cells of low-grade glioma (LGG). Through applying multiple bioinformatics analyses, we extracted and analyzed datasets from TCGA, TIMER, GTEx, GEPIA, and HPA to investigate the potential oncogenic mechanisms of TUBA1C, including the correlation between TUBA1C and prognosis, immune-checkpoints, tumor microenvironment (TME), and infiltration of immune cells in LGG. GO functional annotations and KEGG pathway analyses were further applied to investigate the potential action of TUBA1C in LGG. We revealed that the mRNA levels of TUBA1C were increased in LGG tumor tissues than in normal tissues. Additionally, TUBA1C was up-regulated in the grade III of LGG than in grade II. Moreover, we found that TUBA1C may be an independent prognostic factor of LGG, and high TUBA1C expression correlated to a poor prognosis of LGG. TUBA1C expression was positively associated with the infiltration of B cells, CD8 T+ cells, CD4⁺ T cells, macrophages, dendritic cells, and neutrophils. TUBA1C was also verified to be co-expressed with immune-related genes and immune-checkpoints. GO and KEGG pathway analyses indicated that TUBA1C may potentially regulate the pathogenesis of LGG through immune-related pathways, including chemokine pathway; JAK-STAT pathway; natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity; T cell receptor pathway; leukocyte migration; negative regulation of immune system process; regulation of lymphocyte activation; T cell activation and other pathways. In conclusion, TUBA1C expression is increased in LGG and high TUAB1C expression is related to a poor prognosis. TUBA1C may influence tumor development by regulating the tumor-infiltrating cells in the TME. TUBA1C may be a potential target for immunotherapy.

Keywords: LGG; TUBA1C; prognosis; tumor immune cell infiltration; tumor microenvironment.