Identification of KRBA2 as a probable prognostic biomarker correlated with immune infiltration in kidney clear cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is a major subtype of renal cell carcinoma. Because of its rapid progression and resistance to targeted therapies, KIRC poses a significant threat to human health. KRBA2, a member of the KRBA family, is recognized as a transcription factor. Nevertheless, limited research has focused on the effect of KRBA2 in KIRC.

Materials and methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas database was utilized to analyze the expression of KRBA2 in KIRC, and quantitative real-time PCR was used to validate KRBA2 mRNA expression in clinical KIRC samples and KIRC cell lines. The correlation between KRBA2 expression and clinicopathological features was determined via the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Next, we assessed the prognostic value of KRBA2 in patients with KIRC using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. The association between KRBA2 expression and immune infiltration in KIRC was investigated using the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource.

Results: Our research demonstrated that KRBA2 expression was downregulated in KIRC and was correlated with multiple clinicopathological characteristics. Low KRBA2 expression was associated with poorer overall survival, progression-free interval, and disease-specific survival. Enrichment analysis suggested that KRBA2 was related to immune processes and the cell cycle, and Tumor Immune Estimation Resource analysis indicated that KRBA2 expression correlated with immune infiltration levels and immune characteristics of multiple immune cells.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that KRBA2 may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker associated with KIRC immunity and could be a promising target for KIRC diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords

KRBA2 / Renal clear cell carcinoma / Immune infiltration / Prognosis / Biomarker

Acknowledgments

None.

Statement of ethics

All experiments were conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. The ethics committee of Shandong Province Hospital approved the study, and the ethics approval number was NO2022-333.

Conflicts of interest statement

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author.

Funding source

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82072816).

Author contributions

QW, KS, YS: Study concept and design, data acquisition, data analysis, and interpretation, statistical analysis;

QW, KS: Manuscript drafting;

QX: Final approval of the manuscript, funding acquisition, and study supervision;

All authors contributed to the study and approved the submitted version.

Data availability

All data used in this study were obtained from the TCGA database. Raw data, analytical code, and related data sheets are available in the supplementary materials. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

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