Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. Sep 20, 2023; 13(4): 223-237
Published online Sep 20, 2023. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v13.i4.223
Comprehensive analysis of cell-extracellular matrix protein Ras suppressor-1 in function and prognosis of gastrointestinal cancers
Ya Xu, Yan-Yu Hou, Zheng Wu, Ze-Xuan Fang, Hua-Tao Wu, Jing Liu
Ya Xu, Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenshan Medical Center, Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shanwei 516600, Guangdong Province, China
Yan-Yu Hou, Zheng Wu, Ze-Xuan Fang, Jing Liu, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong Province, China
Hua-Tao Wu, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Xu Y and Liu J contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Xu Y, Hou YY, Wu Z, Fang ZX, and Wu HT; The first draft of the manuscript was written by Xu Y and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript; As the corresponding author, Liu J is the general person in charge of the project, responsible for the project funding, design, writing and checking of the article; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82273457; the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, No. 2023A1515012762; and 2021A1515012180; Special Grant for Key Area Programs of Guangdong Department of Education, No. 2021ZDZX2040; Science and Technology Special Project of Guangdong Province, No. 210715216902829.
Institutional review board statement: In current manuscript, NO-animal experiment was conducted, or NO-Human Participants was involved. So, we did not apply the approval form or document from the committee. Meanwhile, the ARRIVE guidelines were not appropriate for this article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest is claimed by any author.
Data sharing statement: 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: Jing Liu, MD, PhD, Academic Research, Associate Professor, Research Scientist, Senior Scientist, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, No. 22 Xinling Road, Shantou 515041, Guangdong Province, China. jliu12@stu.edu.cn
Received: March 27, 2023
Peer-review started: March 27, 2023
First decision: May 25, 2023
Revised: June 6, 2023
Accepted: June 19, 2023
Article in press: June 19, 2023
Published online: September 20, 2023
Processing time: 176 Days and 21.7 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

At present, gastrointestinal cancers (GICs) in clinical immunotherapy effect is not significant, this study found that Ras suppressor 1 (RSU1) participation in the immune escape process may affect the efficacy of immunotherapy, providing a new target for improving the efficacy of immunotherapy.

Research motivation

The main topic of this study is to explore the role of RSU1 in GICs. Currently, GICs have no significant effect on immunotherapy, and this study found that RSU1 can affect the efficacy of immunotherapy through immune escape, providing a way to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy.

Research objectives

RSU1 is a promising prognostic biomarker reflecting the level of GICs immunoinfiltration and a potential therapeutic target by improving the immune response. At present, this study needs clinical data for verification.

Research methods

We evaluated differential expression of RSU1 in different tumors and their corresponding normal tissues by exploring Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis datasets. The prognostic relationship between RSU1 expression and GICs patients was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier plotter and PrognoScan. Then, RSU1 related genes were screened and functional enrichment was performed by DAVID. Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) was used to further characterize the correlation between RSU1 and tumor-infiltrating immune cells. In addition, the correlation between RSU1 and immune cell surface molecules was analyzed by TIMER.

Research results

Our study reveals the potential role of RSU1 in tumor immunology and its prognostic value. RSU1 is involved in immune escape of tumor microenvironment through macrophage polarization, dendritic cells infiltration, T cell depletion and other pathways to promote tumor progression. RSU1 can be used as a prognostic biomarker to provide therapeutic target for improving the efficacy of immunotherapy.

Research conclusions

The new theories that this study proposes is RSU1 plays a crucial role in immune escape and thus the efficacy of immunotherapy in gastrointestinal cancers. The new methods that this study proposed is the immune status was expressed by analyzing the expression of immune-related factors in the online database.

Research perspectives

This is the first comprehensive analysis of the potential role and prognostic value of the RSU1 in diverse gastrointestinal cancers. However, the current research is limited, and future studies need to further explore the molecular mechanism of RSU1 in regulating the oncogenesis and development of GICs.