OCRL is a novel prognostic biomarker and its association with immunoregulation in breast cancer

Abstract

Background: OCRL (Oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe Protein) was originally well-known as the Lowe’s protein. However, the expression, significance and regulation mechanisms of OCRL in any cancers were not clear. Methods: The bioinformation of breast cancer (BC) patients was required from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas), and the expression was validated via IHC (immuno-histochemical analysis), qPCR and western blot. The UALCAN database was used to explore the promoter methylation level of OCRL and its role in gene silencing and survival. The prognostic roles of various clinicopathologic characteristics, including the OCRL, were evaluated by univariate and multivariate regression analysis. OCRL-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and their functions were explored by LinkedOmics database. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) and immunomodulatory roles were further analyzed with STRING and TISIDB database. Results: Compared with normal and paracancerous samples, the up-regulated expression of OCRL was identified in BC samples. The OCRL was co-expressed with a variety of unfavorable survival-related genes, which also was identified as an independent prognostic factor. Thus, the prognosis of BC patients with overexpressed OCRL was notably more unfavorable from TCGA database. Also, the hypomethylation of OCRL at certain sites was associated with gene silencing and poor survival. Moreover, the overexpression level of OCRL was negatively associated with the infiltration of the most immune cells and the expression of various immune biomarkers in BC. Finally, a OCRL expression-based nomogram integrating independent prognostic factors was constructed to predict at one-, five-, and ten-year the overall survival (OS). Conclusion: OCRL was a promising prognostic predictor and potential immune inhibition modulator.