Bioinformatics analysis of immune infiltrates and tripartite motif (TRIM) family genes in hepatocellular carcinoma

• Published in: Journal of gastrointestinal oncology 2022-08, Vol.13 (4), p.1942-1958
• Main Authors: Cao, Jun, Su, Bingbing, Peng, Rui, Tang, Hao, Tu, Daoyuan, Tang, Yuhong, Zhou, Jie, Jiang, Guoqing, Jin, Shengjie, Wang, Qian, Wang, Aoqing, Liu, Renjie, Deng, Qiangwei, Zhang, Chi, Bai, Dousheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 2078-6891; 2219-679X
• DOI: 10.21037/jgo-22-619

BackgroundThe tripartite motif (TRIM) family are important members of the Gene-finger-containing E3 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme and are involved in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Previous studies have largely focused on gene expression and molecular pathways, while the underlying role of the TRIM family in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) remains poorly understood. MethodsWe systematically explored the correlations of prominent TRIM genes with immune checkpoints and immune infiltrates in 231 HCC samples [International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) cohort (n=231); The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort (n=370)]. A prognostic risk model was constructed using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm and multivariate Cox regression analysis in the ICGC cohort. Kaplan-Meier curves based on the overall survival (OS) were used to assess differences in survival between clusters. We utilized gene set variation analysis (GSVA) to characterize the differences in biological functions. Based on univariate and multivariate Cox progression analysis, we developed a risk score signature and verified its reliability and validity. The Tumor Immune Single-cell Hub (TISCH) single-cell database was employed to evaluate the correlation of TRIM genes with the tumor microenvironment. ResultsCluster 1 was preferentially associated with a favorable prognosis (P