Insights into the Association Between QSER1 and M2 Macrophages and Remarkable Malignancy Characteristics in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose Glutamine and serine rich 1 (QSER1), as a DNA methylation modulator, play a crucial role in transforming tumor cells. Previous studies have shown that QSER1 plays a role in regulating the progression of various malignancies and that QSER1 dysfunction is connected with precancerous lesions of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as well as HCC prognosis. However, little is known about the detailed contribution of QSER1 in HCC. Patients and Methods Various statistical methods such as Kaplan–Meier method, AUC analysis, GSEA, and immune-infiltration analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between QSER1 expression and clinical features, prognostic factors, and potential functional mechanisms of QSER1. Results QSER1 expression was negatively correlated with clinicopathological features (clinical stage, pathological grade, TP53 mutation, lymph node metastasis) and clinical outcome (overall survival versus recurrence). Functional enrichment analysis further suggested that QSER1 is involved in multiple pathways related to DNA replication and tumor immunity. TIMER analysis indicated that high QSER1 expression was significantly associated with higher macrophage infiltration and poorer macrophage-related outcomes. In particular, QSER1 was significantly more associated with M2 macrophages than M1 macrophages. Conclusion Overall, elevated QSER1 is a potential prognostic marker for HCC and is associated with immune infiltration in HCC.

Shedding a Light on Dark Genes: A Comparative Expression Study of PRR12 Orthologues during Zebrafish Development

“…Interestingly, signaling pathways implying irf3 maternal activation during development have been associated with the onset of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) [26,27]. The epigenetic regulator QSER1 is reported in the literature as an essential paralog of PRR12 in the mammalian genome [28]. This relationship between qser1 and prr12 is also preserved in zebrafish (Supplementary Figure S3).…”