Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 24 pp 15504—15524
Comprehensively prognostic and immunological analysis of VRK Serine/Threonine Kinase 1 in pan-cancer and identification in hepatocellular carcinoma
- 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Hospital of Putian City, Putian, Fujian 351100, China
- 2 Department of Clinical Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350108, China
Received: July 26, 2023 Accepted: November 21, 2023 Published: December 28, 2023
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205389How to Cite
Copyright: © 2023 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background: VRK1 is a member of the vaccinia-related kinase (VRK) family of serine/threonine protein kinases, which is related to the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. The expression pattern, predictive value, and biological function of VRK1 in various cancers remain largely elusive and warrant further investigation.
Methods: Public databases, such as TCGA, GTEx, and UCEC, were utilized to comprehensively analyze the expression of VRK1 across multiple cancer types. Prognostic significance was assessed through Univariate Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses. Additionally, Spearman's correlation analysis was employed to explore the potential associations between VRK1 expression and various factors, including tumor microenvironment scores, immune cell infiltration, and immune-related genes. Moreover, to validate the findings, differential expression of VRK1 in HCC tissues and cell lines was further confirmed using qPCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry techniques.
Results: The upregulation of VRK1 was observed in most cancer types, and was associated with worse prognosis in ACC, KICH, KIRP, LGG, LIHC, LUAD, MESO, and PCPG. In various cancers, VRK1 expression exhibited positive correlations with immune infiltrating cells, immune checkpoint-related genes, TMB, and MSI. Furthermore, the promoter methylation status of VRK1 varied across different tumor types, and this variation was associated with patient prognosis in certain cancers. In our experimental analyses, we observed significantly elevated expression of VRK1 in both HCC tissues and HCC cells. Functionally, we found that the downregulation of VRK1 had a profound impact on HCC cells, leading to a significant decrease in their proliferation, migration, and invasion capabilities.
Conclusion: The expression of VRK1 exerts a notable influence on the prognosis of several tumors and exhibits a strong correlation with tumor immune infiltration. Moreover, in the context of HCC, VRK1 may act as an oncogene, actively promoting tumor progression.