NTF3 Correlates With Prognosis and Immune Infiltration in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Rongqiang Liu; Rongqi Li; Haoyuan Yu; Jianrong Liu; Shiyang Zheng; Yang Li; Linsen Ye

doi:10.3389/fmed.2021.795849

NTF3 Correlates With Prognosis and Immune Infiltration in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 Dec 6:8:795849. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.795849. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Rongqiang Liu^{1

2}, Rongqi Li³, Haoyuan Yu¹, Jianrong Liu⁴, Shiyang Zheng⁵, Yang Li¹, Linsen Ye¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hepatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medical, Foshan, China.
⁴ Surgical and Transplant Intensive Care Unit of The Third Affiliated Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Breast Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: The potential role of Neurotrophic factor-3(NTF3) in liver cancer is unknown. Therefore, we aimed to explore the clinical value of NTF3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We used a variety of databases to analyze the expression, relationship with prognosis and immune significance of NTF3 in liver cancer through bioinformatics. Results: NTF3 was low expressed in HCC and was an independent prognostic factor in patients with HCC. CIBERSORT analysis indicated that NTF3 expression was positively correlated with CD4+ cells, mast cells, NK cells, macrophages and B cells in the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, we found that NTF3 expression was negatively correlated with the immune checkpoints PD-L1, TIGIT and TIM-3. Functional network analysis revealed that NTF3 regulates HCC progression through a variety of cancer-related kinases, transcription factors and signaling pathways. Conclusions: We demonstrate that NTF3 correlates with prognosis and immune infiltration in HCC.

Keywords: NTF3; TGCA; hepatocellular carcinoma; immune infiltrates; prognosis.