Exploration And Verification Of Immune-related Genes In Metastatic Melanoma

Objective:This study used bioinformatics methods to explore the immune-related genes of metastatic skin cutaneous melanoma(SKCM)and identify their prognostic value.It also identified the immune infiltrating cell components and immune subtypes in the metastatic SKCM microenvironment,which provides new insights to the treatment of metastatic SKCM.Methods:The transcriptome data and clinical information of patients with metastatic melanoma were obtained from the TCGA(The Cancer Genome Atlas)database,and the ESTIMATE algorithm was applied to obtain differentially expressed genes(DEGs)based on immune and matrix scores,and the prognosis of DEGs was also analyzed.GO(Gene Ontology)and KEGG(Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes)enrichment analysis was performed,and protein-protein interaction(PPI)was used to identify key genes.In addition,the GEO(Gene Expression Omnibus)database was used to verify the prognosis of key genes.Finally,bioinformatics methods were used to identify the immune infiltrating cell components and immune subtypes in metastatic SKCM.Results:The transcriptome data and clinical information of 368 patients with metastatic SKCM were downloaded from the TCGA database.A total of 663 DEGs were screened based on the difference according to the immune and matrix scores in the ESTIMATE algorithm,of which 600(90.50%)genes were selected and related to prognosis(p<0.005).GO and KEGG enrichment analysis verified that these DEGs are closely associated with the immune process.And the GSE59334 dataset from the GEO database was used to verify the prognostic value and 239 genes were selected.From the PPI network,two modules with the highest degree of correlation were identified,and 10 key genes that have not been studied in the field of melanoma were selected from them,namely ATP8B4,BTK,C1QC,FCGR1B,GPR84,IGSF6,MPEG1,MS4A6A,RNASE6,VAMP5.Next,the GEPIA and HP A databases suggest that not only at the mRNA level but also at the protein level,C1QC,MPEG1,MS4A6A are all expressed in melanoma higher than normal skin.Finally,this study revealed seven immune subtypes with different risk values,and identified T cells as the most abundant cells in the immune microenvironment,which are closely related to the prognosis.Conclusion:Immune and matrix scores are closely related to the prognosis of patients with metastatic SKCM.The higher the scores,the better the prognosis of patients,and immune cells and extracellular matrix play an important role in establishing the melanoma microenvironment.10 key genes(ATP8B4,BTK,C1QC,FCGR1B,GPR84,IGSF6,MPEG1,MS4A6A,RNASE6,VAMP5)can be used as biological indicators to predict the prognosis of patients.The most abundant immune cell spectrum in metastatic SKCM is T cells.The exploration of CD4+T cells,CD8+T cells and their ratios will be of great value for improving the objective response rate of metastatic melanoma immunotherapy.