METTL7B is a novel prognostic biomarker of lower-grade glioma based on pan-cancer analysis

• Published in: Cancer cell international 2021-07, Vol.21 (1), p.1-383, Article 383
• Main Authors: Jiang, Zhipeng, Yin, Wen, Zhu, Hecheng, Tan, Jun, Guo, Youwei, Xin, Zhaoqi, Zhou, Quanwei, Cao, Yudong, Wu, Zhaoping, Kuang, Yirui, Li, Can, Xie, Dongcheng, Huang, Hailong, Zhao, Ming, Jiang, Xingjun, Wang, Lei, Ren, Caiping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomarkers; Brain tumors; Breast cancer; Cancer; Cell cycle; Correlation analysis; Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT); Esophagus; Extracellular matrix; Gene expression; Genomes; Glioma; Immune cell infiltration; Immune checkpoint; Immunotherapy; Infiltration; Lung cancer; Medical prognosis; Melanoma; Mesenchyme; Metastases; Methyltransferase; Methyltransferase-like 7B; Mutation; Pan-cancer analysis; Paraganglioma; Pheochromocytoma; Primary Research; Prognostic markers; Thyroid cancer; Tumors
• ISSN: 1475-2867; 1475-2867
• DOI: 10.1186/s12935-021-02087-4

Methyltransferase-like 7B (METTL7B) is a member of the methyltransferase-like protein family that plays an important role in the development and progression of tumors. However, its prognostic value and the correlation of METTL7B expression and tumor immunity in some cancers remain unclear. By analyzing online data, we found that METTL7B is abnormally overexpressed in multiple human tumors and plays an important role in the overall survival (OS) of patients with 8 cancer types and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with 5 cancer types. Remarkably, METTL7B expression was positively correlated with the OS and DFS of patients with lower-grade glioma (LGG). In addition, a positive correlation between METTL7B expression and immune cell infiltration in LGG was observed. Moreover, we identified a strong correlation between METTL7B expression and immune checkpoint gene expression in kidney chromophobe (KICH), LGG and pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PCPG). Furthermore, METTL7B was involved in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and immune-related pathways in LGGs. Finally, in vitro experiments showed that knockdown of METTL7B inhibited the growth, migration, invasion and the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of LGG cells. METTL7B expression potentially represents a novel prognostic biomarker due to its significant association with immune cell infiltration in LGG.