Copper-induced death, also termed cuproptosis, is a novel form of programmed cell death and is promising as a new strategy for cancer therapeutics. Elevated copper levels in tumor cells are positively associated with high PD-L1 expression. Nonetheless, the prognostic significance of cuproptosis-related immune checkpoint genes (CRICGs) in hepatocellular carcinoma remains to be further clarified. This study aimed to construct the prognostic CRICG signature to predict the immunotherapy response and outcomes of HCC patients. The co-expressed CRICGs were first screened through Pearson correlation analysis. Based on the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator-COX regression analyses, we identified a prognostic 5-CRICGs model, which closely correlates with poor outcomes, cancer development, and immune response to hepatocellular carcinoma. External validation was conducted using the GSE14520 dataset. Lastly, qRT-PCR was performed to determine the expression of the CRICGs in HCC. In summary, we developed and validated a novel prognostic CRICG model based on 5 CRICGs. This prognostic signature could effectively forecast the outcomes and immune response of HCC patients, which may serve as biomarkers for anticancer therapy.

Background: Rho GTPase-activating protein 11A (ARHGAP11A) is a member of the Rho GTPase-activating protein (RhoGAP) subfamily. However, its expression, prognostic significance and clinicopathologic factors correlation in lung adenocarcinoma is still unclear. Methods: The original gene expression profile, survival data, and clinical information of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The expression difference of ARHGAP11A between LUAD tissues and adjacent normal tissues in the TCGA database was analyzed by using R software, and verified by the Oncomine database and immunohistochemical (IHC) assay of LUAD sections. Logistic regression was applied to analyze the relationship between the expression of ARHGAP11A and clinicopathological factors of LUAD. Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival curves and a Cox proportional-hazards model were selected to evaluate the prognostic significance of ARHGAP11A expression. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) software was applied to screen the tumor signaling pathways associated with the low and high expression group of ARHGAP11A in LUAD.Results: The TCGA database showed that the expression of ARHGAP11A was significantly higher in LUAD tissues than in normal tissues (P<0.001). The up-regulation of ARHGAP11A in LUAD was verified by the Oncomine database (P<0.001) and IHC assay (P<0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed the high expression of ARHGAP11A to be closely related to age, sex, advanced pathological stage, advanced T stage, and lymph node metastasis. The KM plots based on the TCGA and KM plotter databases indicated that patients with LUAD highly expressing ARHGAP11A had a poorer overall survival (OS) than patients with low expression of ARHGAP11A. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the high expression of ARHGAP11A could be an important independent predictor of a poor prognosis of LUAD [hazards ratio (HR) =1.385; P<0.001]. GSEA indicated that 10 signal pathways were significantly enriched in LUAD samples with the ARHGAP11A expression phenotype.Conclusions: ARHGAP11A may play a carcinogenic role in the malignant progression of LUAD, and it can be considered as a new independent prognostic factor and potential therapeutic target for LUAD.

Background: Wnt5b is noncanonical Wnt ligand, and programmed-death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a targeted agent for immunotherapy, but the mechanism by which Wnt5b regulates PD-L1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unclear. Methods: Wnt5b and PD-L1 expressions were detected in NSCLC specimens by immunohistochemistry. The interrelationship connecting Wnt5b with PD-L1 was verified using dual-luciferase assay, immunofluorescence, coimmunoprecipitation, western blot，real-time PCR and xenograft tumor model. Results: Wnt5b and PD-L1 expressions were positively correlated in NSCLC specimens. Five-year survival time in the group with their coexpression was significantly lower than that without coexpression. Under the effect of Wnt5b, Frizzled-3 (Fzd3) initiated Dishevellde-3 (Dvl-3) membrane recruitment via DEP domain by Dvl-3 phosphorylation, contributing to activate PCP/JNK signaling through the small GTPase Rac1, and then upregulate PD-L1 expression and promote the malignant phenotype of NSCLC in vivo and in vitro. After PD-L1 antibody treatment, Wnt5b induced tumor growth was inhibited significantly in xenograft tumor model. Conclusion: We demonstrate a new signal transduction pathway: Wnt5b initiates Dvl-3 membrane recruitment via DEP domain by Fzd3 so as to promote Rac1–PCP/JNK–PD-L1 pathway, which provides a potential target for clinical intervention and immunotherapy in lung cancer.

Purpose ZPR1 is a zinc finger-containing protein that plays a crucial role in neurodegenerative diseases, lipid metabolism disorders, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, the expression pattern, prognostic value, and treatment response of ZPR1 in pan-cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. Patients and Methods Pan-cancer expression profiles and relevant clinical data were acquired from UCSC Xena platform. Pan-cancer expression, epigenetic profile, and clinical correlation analysis for ZPR1 were performed. We next explored the prognostic significance and potential biological functions of ZPR1 in HCC. Furthermore, the relationship between ZPR1 and immune infiltration and treatment response was investigated. Finally, quantitative immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis was applied to assess the correlation of ZPR1 expression and immune microenvironment in HCC tissues using Qupath software. Results ZPR1 was differentially expressed in most tumor types and significantly up-regulated in HCC. ZPR1 showed hypo-methylated status in most tumors. Pan-cancer correlation analysis indicated that ZPR1 was closely associated with clinicopathological factors and TMB, MSI, and stemness index in HCC. High ZPR1 expression could be an independent risk factor for adverse prognosis in HCC. ZPR1 correlated with immune cell infiltration and therapeutic response. Finally, IHC results suggested that ZPR1 correlated with CD4, CD56, CD68, and PD-L1 expression and is a promising pathological diagnostic marker in HCC. Conclusion Immune infiltrate-associated ZPR1 could be considered a novel negative prognostic biomarker for therapeutic response in HCC.