Identification and validation of tumor microenvironment-related genes of prognostic value in lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a major subtype of non-small cell lung cancer. Despite significant progress in its diagnosis and treatment, the mortality and morbidity rate of LUAD remains high worldwide. The aim of the present study was to perform a systematic investigation of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and identify TME-related genes of prognostic value in patients with LUAD. Firstly, the immune scores and stromal scores of patients with LUAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas were calculated using the Estimation of STromal and Immune cells in MAlignant Tumors using Expression data algorithm, and a total of 281 prognostic TME-related genes were identified. Subsequently, functional analysis and protein-protein interaction network analysis revealed that these genes were mainly related to immune response, inflammatory response and chemotaxis. Finally, two independent LUAD cohorts from the Gene Expression Omnibus database were used to validate these genes, and 4 genes (GTPase IMAP family member 1, T-cell surface glycoprotein CD1b, integrin alpha-L and leukocyte surface antigen CD53) were identified, and downregulation of these genes was indicated to be associated with poor overall survival rate in patients with LUAD. In conclusion, a comprehensive analysis of TME was performed and 4 prognostic TME-related genes in patients with LUAD were identified.

肺腺癌（LUAD）是非小细胞肺癌的一种主要亚型。尽管在其诊断和治疗方面取得了重大进展，但全球范围内肺腺癌的死亡率和发病率仍然很高。本研究的目的是对肿瘤微环境（TME）进行系统研究，并确定肺腺癌患者中具有预后价值的TME相关基因。首先，使用基于表达数据算法的肿瘤基质和免疫细胞评估（ESTIMATE）计算了癌症基因组图谱（TCGA）中肺腺癌患者的免疫评分和基质评分，共鉴定出281个与预后相关的TME基因。随后，功能分析和蛋白质 - 蛋白质相互作用网络分析显示，这些基因主要与免疫应答、炎症反应和趋化性有关。最后，使用来自基因表达综合数据库（GEO）的两个独立的肺腺癌队列对这些基因进行验证，确定了4个基因（GTP酶IMAP家族成员1、T细胞表面糖蛋白CD1b、整合素α - L和白细胞表面抗原CD53），并且这些基因的下调表明与肺腺癌患者的总体生存率低有关。总之，对TME进行了全面分析，并确定了肺腺癌患者中4个具有预后价值的TME相关基因。