Butyrophilins (BTNs) belong to the immunoglobulin superfamily of transmembrane proteins and play a role in the regulation of lymphocyte activation, several autoimmune diseases, and the progression of human cancers. However, the associated clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic value of BTNs in breast cancer remain unknown. This study aimed to discover potential key related BTN genes and signaling pathways in breast cancer, which could provide new insights for immune-based strategies. In the present study, the mRNA expression level and prognostic value of BTN2A1, BTN3A1, BTN3A2, BTN3A3, BTNL2, BTNL9, ERMAP, and MOG were measured. Up-regulation of these genes was significantly correlated with improved overall and relapse-free survival. We then analyzed the prognostic outcomes of breast cancer subtypes, genetic alterations, interaction networks, and the functional enrichment of eight BTN family genes. Our results showed that these eight genes played essential roles in tumor progression. Furthermore, an immune infiltration analysis indicated that most candidate BTN family members were associated with intratumoral immune cell infiltration, especially that of γδ T cells. Finally, gene set enrichment analysis for a single hub gene revealed that each BTN gene played a vital role in tumor progression through immune signaling pathways. These findings provided new insights into breast cancer pathogenesis and identified eight potential biomarkers for breast cancer.

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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with relatively high malignancy and rapid disease progression. Metabolism-related genes (MRGs) are involved in the pathogenesis of HCC. This study explored potential key MRGs and their effect on T-cell immune function in the tumor immune microenvironment to provide new insight for the treatment of HCC. Of 456 differentially expressed MRGs identified from TCGA database, 21 were screened by MCODE and cytoHubba algorithms. From the key module, GAD1, SPP1, WFS1, GOT2, EHHADH, and APOA1 were selected for validation. The six MRGs were closely correlated with survival outcomes and clinicopathological characteristics in HCC. Receiver operating characteristics analysis and Kaplan-Meier plots showed that these genes had good prognostic value for HCC. Gene set enrichment analysis of the six MRGs indicated that they were associated with HCC development. TIMER and GEPIA databases revealed that WFS1 was significantly positively correlated and EHHADH was negatively correlated with tumor immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint expression. Finally, quantificational real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) confirmed the expression of WFS1 and EHHADH mRNA in our own patients’ cohort samples and four HCC cell lines. Collectively, the present study identified six potential MRG biomarkers associated with the prognosis and tumor immune infiltration of HCC, thus providing new insight into the pathogenesis and treatment of HCC.