MTFR2 shapes a barrier of immune microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma

Qiaoqiao Huang; Ying Han; Edward Shen; Ziyang Feng; Yinghui Peng; Le Gao; Yan Gao; Yongting Liu; Wei Li; Ping Liu; Yihong Chen; Cao Guo; Shan Zeng; Changjing Cai; Hong Shen

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105095

MTFR2 shapes a barrier of immune microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma

iScience. 2022 Sep 10;26(1):105095. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105095. eCollection 2023 Jan 20.

Authors

Qiaoqiao Huang^{1

2}, Ying Han^{1

2}, Edward Shen³, Ziyang Feng^{1

2}, Yinghui Peng^{1

2}, Le Gao^{1

2}, Yan Gao^{1

2}, Yongting Liu^{1

2}, Wei Li^{1

2}, Ping Liu^{1

2}, Yihong Chen^{1

2}, Cao Guo^{1

2}, Shan Zeng^{1

2

4}, Changjing Cai^{1

2}, Hong Shen^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China.
² Key Laboratory for Molecular Radiation Oncology of Hunan Province, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China.
³ Department of Life Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada.
⁴ National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. Mitochondrial fission regulator 2 (MTFR2) is involved in the development of various cancers. However, the roles of MTFR2 in HCC remain unknown. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of MTFR2 in HCC, which was generated from integrative MTFR2 analyses of eight HCC cell lines, and three datasets (public dataset, real-world dataset, and immunotherapy dataset) derived from bulk HCC tissues, survival, and immunotherapy data. We demonstrated that the expression level of MTFR2 is upregulated in HCC, leading to poor prognosis. MTFR2 is positively correlated with the level of immune cell infiltration, multiple immune checkpoints and immunotherapy response prediction pathways, and acts as an important role in cancer-immunity cycle. In conclusion, our work indicates that MTFR2 can shape a barrier of immune microenvironment and result in poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma, but the immune barrier may be broken by immunotherapy.

Keywords: Biological sciences; Cancer; Immunology.