Low expression of VSIG4 is associated with poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with hepatitis B infection

Abstract

BackgroundV-set and immunoglobulin domain containing protein 4 (VSIG4) was reported to play an important role in tumorigenesis. However, the expression and clinical relevance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unknown.Materials and methodsFirst, the mRNA profiles of HCC were screened from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus databases. VSIG4, a differentially expressed gene that has not been reported in HCC, was distinguished. Second, the correlation between VSIG4 expression and the prognosis of HCC patients from TCGA was analyzed. Third, VSIG4 mRNA level was detected in 36 pairs of HCC tissues and 4 HCC cell lines by PCR assay. And finally, prognosis analysis was assessed for 36 HCC patients with different expression levels of VSIG4.ResultsBioinformatics analysis showed that VSIG4 expression was downregulated in HCC tissues, and the expression level of VSIG4 was negatively correlated with serum alpha fetal protein (AFP) level and tumor distant metastasis. Survival analysis of all HCC patients in TCGA indicated that the overall survival and disease-free survival were not significantly associated with VSIG4 expression. However, subgroup analysis showed that in the patients with hepatitis B virus-related HCC, both overall survival and disease-free survival were shorter in the low VSIG4 expression group. Our PCR results further showed that VSIG4 expression was significantly decreased in HCC tissues and HCC cell lines, and the disease-free survival in hepatitis B virus-related HCC patients with low VSIG4 expression was shorter than in those with high VSIG4 expression, which was consistent with the bioinformatics analysis results.ConclusionOur study suggests that VSIG4 is downregulated in HCC, and low expression of VSIG4 is associated with poor prognosis in hepatitis B virus-related HCC patients.

Profiles of immune cell infiltration and immune-related genes in the tumor microenvironment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

“…It broadly expressed in placenta, lung, and 19 other tissues. Byun et al showed that high VSIG4 expression of cancer tissue was associated with a longer disease-free interval in benign ovarian tumors [ 30 ] and hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma [ 31 ]. Both Xu et al and Hu et al found that VISG4 could be used as a prognostic factor and a potential immunotherapeutic target for glioma [ 32 ] and clear cell renal cell carcinoma [ 33 ].…”

Profiles of Immune Cell Infiltration and Immune-Related Genes in the Tumor Microenvironment of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…It broadly expressed in placenta, lung, and 19 other tissues. Byun et al showed that high VSIG4 expression of cancer tissue was associated with a longer disease-free interval in benign ovarian tumors [30] and hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma [31]. Both Xu et al and Hu et al found that VISG4 could be used as a prognostic factor and a potential immunotherapeutic target for glioma [32] and clear cell renal cell carcinoma [33].…”

Utilization of complement receptors in immune cell–microbe interaction

“…Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) [21] Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) [14][15][16] SARS-virus [20] Francisella tularensis [25] Mycobacterium leprae [30,31] Mycobacterium tuberculosis [29] Salmonella typhi [28] Staphylococcus aureus (Ecb) [26] Streptococcus pneumoniae [27] Leishmania major [37,38] Plasmodium falciparum (PfRh4) [32][33][34][35] Trypanosoma [95,96] Listeria monocytogenes [85,99] Staphylococcus aureus [85] Candida albicans [97,98] might be a result of the small sample size, according to the authors. Thus, the correlation between the genotype of CR1 and progression of the SARS disease is not clear yet, but the dynamic change in the CR1 numbers during infection suggests its involvement in the process [20].…”

“…However, the tolerogenic function of CRIg might support the progression of cancer with keeping T cells in an unresponsive state [93,94]. Recently, the downregulation of CRIg in chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was shown to lead to a poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma patients probably due to reduced virus clearance [95,96].…”