N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation regulator SNRPC is a prognostic biomarker and is correlated with immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world, and due to its complex pathogenic factors, its prognosis is poor. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation plays an important role in the tumorigenesis, progression, and prognosis of many tumors. The m6A RNA methylation regulator small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptide C (SNRPC), which encodes one of the specific protein components of the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) particle, has been proven to be related to the prognosis of patients with HCC. However, the effect of SNRPC on the tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy in HCC remains unclear. Case presentation The HCC RNA-seq profiles in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases, including 421 LIHC and 440 LIRI-JP samples, respectively, were used in this study. Both the expression of SNRPC in HCC was upregulated in the TCGA and ICGC databases compared to normal tissues. Next, the expression of SNRPC was validated as a risk factor for prognosis by Kaplan-Meier analysis and employed to establish a nomogram with T pathologic stage. By gene set variation (GSVA) analysis and gene set enrichment (GSEA) analysis, we found that SNRPC was mainly related to protein metabolism and the immune process. Furthermore, the estimation of stromal and immune cells in malignant tumor tissues using expression (ESTIMATE), microenvironment cell population counter (MCP-counter), and single sample GSEA (ssGSEA) algorithms revealed that the high-SNRPC group had a lower stromal score, lower abundance of endothelial cells and fibroblasts, and lower immune infiltration. Ultimately, a tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) analysis revealed that patients in the low-SNRPC group may be more sensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Conclusion SNRPC could serve as a promising prognostic and immunotherapeutic marker in HCC and might contribute to new directions and strategies for HCC treatment.

A pyroptosis-related gene signature predicts prognosis and immune microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Accumulating evidence has revealed that immune infiltrates in tumor microenvironment play a significant role in the prognosis of HCC. SNRPC, PKB, and DCK have been discovered to significantly correlate with patient outcomes and immune cell infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma [ 65 – 67 ]. We further explored the relationship between the PRG risk score and tumor-infiltrating immune cells.…”

Blood-based biomarkers for immune-based therapy in advanced HCC: Promising but a long way to go

“…A similar study that focuses on HCC, however, has yet to be found. Another study that looked at predicting immunotherapy responses in HCC but with a methylated RNA molecule (SNRPC) instead, showed a similar pattern in that high-SNRPC groups showed no response to anti-PD1 therapy while low-SNRPC groups showed more patients responding to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy ( 90 ).…”

Screening and analysis of RNAs associated with activated memory CD4 and CD8 T cells in liver cancer

“…Surgical resection and liver transplantation are currently recognized as effective methods for the treatment of liver cancer; however, the 5-year survival rate is only approximately 50%, and the 5-year recurrence rate can reach 60~70% [ 4 ]. Epigenetic-related molecules (such as SNRPC) [ 5 ], non-coding RNA (such as hsa-mir-221) [ 6 ], and immune-related molecules (such as DCK) [ 7 ] could be used as potential biomarkers for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis monitoring in liver cancer. Therefore, it is critically necessary to further explore the molecular pathogenesis of this disease by screening for new molecular biomarkers that could enhance early diagnosis and improve current therapies for liver cancer.…”