Pan-cancer and single-cell analysis reveal the prognostic value and immune response of NQO1

Liping Shen; Shan Jiang; Yu Yang; Hongli Yang; Yanchun Fang; Meng Tang; Rangteng Zhu; Jiaqin Xu; Hantao Jiang

doi:10.3389/fcell.2023.1174535

Pan-cancer and single-cell analysis reveal the prognostic value and immune response of NQO1

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023 Jul 31:11:1174535. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1174535. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Liping Shen¹, Shan Jiang², Yu Yang³, Hongli Yang⁴, Yanchun Fang⁵, Meng Tang⁶, Rangteng Zhu³, Jiaqin Xu¹, Hantao Jiang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Department of Radiology, Jining No. 1 People's Hospital, Jining, Shandong, China.
³ Department of Orthopedics, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁴ Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
⁵ Department of Ultrasonography, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁶ Department of Ultrasonography, Jining No. 1 People's Hospital, Jining, Shandong, China.

Abstract

Background: Overexpression of the NAD(P)H: Quinone Oxidoreductase 1 (NQOI) gene has been linked with tumor progression, aggressiveness, drug resistance, and poor patient prognosis. Most research has described the biological function of the NQO1 in certain types and limited samples, but a comprehensive understanding of the NQO1's function and clinical importance at the pan-cancer level is scarce. More research is needed to understand the role of NQO1 in tumor infiltration, and immune checkpoint inhibitors in various cancers are needed. Methods: The NQO1 expression data for 33 types of pan-cancer and their association with the prognosis, pathologic stage, gender, immune cell infiltration, the tumor mutation burden, microsatellite instability, immune checkpoints, enrichment pathways, and the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) were downloaded from public databases. Results: Our findings indicate that the NQO1 gene was significantly upregulated in most cancer types. The Cox regression analysis showed that overexpression of the NQO1 gene was related to poor OS in Glioma, uveal melanoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma, and adrenocortical carcinoma. NQO1 mRNA expression positively correlated with infiltrating immune cells and checkpoint molecule levels. The single-cell analysis revealed a potential relationship between the NQO1 mRNA expression levels and the infiltration of immune cells and stromal cells in bladder urothelial carcinoma, invasive breast carcinoma, and colorectal cancer. Conversely, a negative association was noted between various drugs (17-AAG, Lapatinib, Trametinib, PD-0325901) and the NQO1 mRNA expression levels. Conclusion: NQO1 expression was significantly associated with prognosis, immune infiltrates, and drug resistance in multiple cancer types. The inhibition of the NQO1-dependent signaling pathways may provide a promising strategy for developing new cancer-targeted therapies.

Keywords: NQO1; immune; pan-cancer; prognosis; therapy.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Scientific Research Fund Project of Zhejiang Province, grant number KY202201130003, and the Zhejiang Provincial Medical and Health Science and Technology Program, grant number 2019RC089.