Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Jan 24, 2024; 15(1): 45-61
Published online Jan 24, 2024. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i1.45
Prognostic and immunological roles of heat shock protein A4 in lung adenocarcinoma
Xuan Wu, Shen-Ying Yang, Yi-Hua Zhang, Jin-Zhou Fang, Shuai Wang, Zhi-Wei Xu, Xiao-Ju Zhang
Xuan Wu, Shen-Ying Yang, Jin-Zhou Fang, Shuai Wang, Zhi-Wei Xu, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou 450008, Henan Province, China
Yi-Hua Zhang, Graduate School, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, Henan Province, China
Xiao-Ju Zhang, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou 450008, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Wu X and Yang SY contributed equally to this work; Wu X, Yang SY and Zhang XJ designed the research study; Wu X, Yang SY and Fang JZ performed the analysis; Wu X, Yang SY, and Wang S analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital.
Clinical trial registration statement: Since our paper is not a clinical research study but a bioinformatics analysis to assess the prognostic and immunological significance of HSPA4 in LUAD using data from public database. So, it is not applicable to provide the Clinical Trial Registration Statement.
Informed consent statement: Since our paper is not a clinical research study but a bioinformatics analysis to assess the prognostic and immunological significance of HSPA4 in LUAD using data from public database. So, it is not applicable to provide the Signed Informed Consent Form(s) or Document(s).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/Supplementary material.
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: Xiao-Ju Zhang, Doctor, PhD, Academic Research, Additional Professor, Chief Physician, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital, No. 7 Weiwu Road, Jinshui District, Zhengzhou 450008, Henan Province, China. zhangxiaoju@zzu.edu.cn
Received: September 11, 2023
Peer-review started: September 11, 2023
First decision: November 23, 2023
Revised: December 3, 2023
Accepted: December 29, 2023
Article in press: December 29, 2023
Published online: January 24, 2024
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Heat shock 70 kDa protein 4 (HSPA4) is a member of the HSP110 family. Previous studies showed HSPA4 is significantly associated with prognosis and immune regulation in different cancer types. However, the role of HSPA4 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has not been revealed yet.

Research motivation

We tried to explore the prognostic and immunological roles of HSPA4 in the Bio informatics methods based on the public databases. We confirmed the role of HSPA4 in LUAD prognosis and verified the correlation between HSPA4 and immune regulation. This study can assist us better comprehend the biological characteristics of the disease and provide new therapeutic target for precision therapy.

Research objectives

We aim to comprehensively analyzed the correlation between HSPA4 expression and the clinical characteristic, prognosis and immunology based on the RNA-seq data from the public database. We showed HSPA4 is significantly associated with prognosis and immune regulation and is a potential prognostic and new therapeutic target in LUAD.

Research methods

The primary research method used in my study was bioinformatics. This technique is an advanced technology used in recent years to study genetics and genomics. It is widely used due to its ability to analyze large datasets and identify patterns and relationships that might be difficult to detect using other methods. The novelty of bioinformatics lies in its ability to integrate multiple technologies and methodologies, such as computer science, statistics, and molecular biology, to provide a comprehensive understanding of biological systems. In my study, I applied various bioinformatics tools and algorithms to analyze genomic data and identify potential genetic targets for further investigation.

Research results

The study found that overexpression of HSPA4 was significantly associated with advanced disease stage, progression disease status, and worse survival outcomes in LUAD. Additionally, HSPA4 expression was correlated with alterations in cell cycle regulation, immune response, and the balance of infiltrating immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. These findings suggest that HSPA4 may play a role in tumor progression and immune evasion in LUAD. However, this study only focused on the expression level of the HSPA4 gene and did not investigate its regulatory mechanisms and functions. Future research can delve into the biological characteristics of HSPA4 to reveal the specific role in the initiation and progression of LUAD.

Research conclusions

This study proposed that HSPA4 may play a role in tumor progression and immune evasion in LUAD. This study comprehensively analyzed the correlation between HSPA4 expression and the clinical characteristic, prognosis and immunology in bioinformatics method based on the RNA-seq data from the public database.

Research perspectives

The regulatory mechanisms and functions of HSPA4 and the specific role in the initiation and progression of LUAD are direction of the future research.