Increased expression of the RNA-binding protein Musashi-2 is associated with immune infiltration and predicts better outcomes in ccRCC patients

Hui Li; Xiaole Meng; Xuting You; Wenting Zhou; Wanxin Ouyang; Xin Pu; Runan Zhao; Huamei Tang

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.949705

Increased expression of the RNA-binding protein Musashi-2 is associated with immune infiltration and predicts better outcomes in ccRCC patients

Front Oncol. 2022 Oct 21:12:949705. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.949705. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Hui Li¹, Xiaole Meng^{1

2

3}, Xuting You^{1

3}, Wenting Zhou³, Wanxin Ouyang³, Xin Pu^{1

3}, Runan Zhao⁴, Huamei Tang^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Xiang'an Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
² National Institute for Data Science in Health and Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
³ Organ Transplantation Institute of Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Organ and Tissue Regeneration, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) mainly contribute to abnormalities in posttranscriptional gene regulation. The RBP Musashi-2, an evolutionarily conserved protein, has been characterized as an oncoprotein in various tumors. However, the prognostic value and potential roles of Musashi-2 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) have not yet been elucidated. In this study, we found that Musashi-2 was mainly expressed in the normal distal tubular cells and collecting duct cells of the kidneys, while its expression was significantly decreased in ccRCC. And higher expression levels of Musashi-2 indicated better overall survival (OS) in ccRCC. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry demonstrated that PD-L1 expression was negatively correlated with Musashi-2 expression, and Musashi-2 was found to be remarkably correlated with multiple immune cells and immune inhibitors, including CD8⁺ T cells, CD4⁺ T cells, regulatory T (Treg) cells, PDCD1, CTLA4, Foxp3, and LAG3. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that Musashi-2 might be involved in ccRCC metabolic reprogramming and immune infiltration and further predicted the therapeutic sensitivity of ccRCC. Taken together, Musashi-2 is a prognostic biomarker for ccRCC patients that may provide novel insights into individualized treatment strategies and guide effective immunotherapy.

Keywords: Musashi-2; ccRCC; immune; metabolism; prognosis.