Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 21, 2023; 29(19): 2961-2978
Published online May 21, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i19.2961
MMP14 is a diagnostic gene of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma associated with immune cell infiltration
Jun Wu, Yang Guo, Zhi-Fan Zuo, Zi-Wei Zhu, Lei Han
Jun Wu, Zi-Wei Zhu, China Medical University, The General Hospital of Northern Theater Command Training Base for Graduate, Shenyang 110016, Liaoning Province, China
Yang Guo, Lei Han, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The General Hospital of Northern Theater Command, Shenyang 110016, Liaoning Province, China
Zhi-Fan Zuo, Gynecological Radiotherapy Ward, Liaoning Provincial Cancer Hospital, Shenyang 110801, Liaoning province, China
Author contributions: Han L conceived and directed the entire study, and should be regarded as corresponding author; Wu J and Guo Y designed the study and prepared the manuscript; Zuo ZF defined the intellectual content of the study and participated in the literature research; Wu J, Guo Y, and Zuo ZF contributed equally to this study; Zhu ZW conducted data analysis; Han L and Wu J revised the manuscript; and all authors approved to submit the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study is not involved any human and animal.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The bioinformatic data could be downloaded from the public databases, and no additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lei Han, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Deputy Director, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The General Hospital of Northern Theater Command, No. 83 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, Liaoning Province, China. hanlei1974@sina.com
Received: February 28, 2023
Peer-review started: February 28, 2023
First decision: March 14, 2023
Revised: March 24, 2023
Accepted: April 23, 2023
Article in press: April 23, 2023
Published online: May 21, 2023
Processing time: 76 Days and 24 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) has a high mortality rate. Its early diagnosis is very important.

Research motivation

At present, there are no diagnostic markers of ICC, and most patients are in the middle and late stage when the tumors are found, and the treatment options for these patients are limited, resulting in a poor prognosis.

Research objectives

It is urgent to find new biomarkers for early screening and diagnosis of ICC.

Research methods

Bioinformatics analysis and machine learning algorithm were used to screen for ICC disease characteristic genes, and the diagnostic performance of characteristic gene MMP14 was verified by different databases. The relationship between different immune cell infiltration in MMP14 and ICC tumor microenvironment was analyzed.

Research results

We discovered for the first time a new gene MMP14 for the diagnosis of ICC. We further analyzed the expression of MMP14 and its significance in immune cell infiltration in ICC tumor microenvironment, indicating that MMP14 is closely related to a variety of immune cell infiltration, which may provide a new direction for immune-related research.

Research conclusions

In this study, we found that MMP14 can be used as a disease characteristic gene for ICC diagnosis using a variety of machine learning algorithms. There is a relationship between different immune cell infiltration in MMP14 and ICC tumor microenvironment, which plays an important role in the occurrence and development of tumor. MMP14 may be a potential target for ICC immunotherapy.

Research perspectives

Based on bioinformatics analysis and machine learning algorithm, MMP14 was identified as the characteristic gene of ICC and was associated with ICC immune cell infiltration. In the future research, it will be of great significance to explore the signal pathway mediated by MMP14 in the occurrence and development of ICC and the mechanism of immune cell infiltration.