Comprehensive pan-cancer analysis reveals prognostic implications of TMEM92 in the tumor immune microenvironment

Abstract

Background: Transmembrane protein 92 (TMEM92) has been implicated in the facilitation of tumor progression. Nevertheless, comprehensive analyses concerning the prognostic significance of TMEM92, as well as its role in immunological responses across diverse cancer types, remain to be elucidated.

Methods: In this study, data was sourced from a range of publicly accessible online platforms and databases, including TCGA, GTEx, UCSC Xena, CCLE, cBioPortal, HPA, TIMER2.0, GEPIA, CancerSEA, GDSC, exoRBase, and ImmuCellAI. We systematically analyzed the expression patterns of TMEM92 at both mRNA and protein levels across diverse human organs, tissues, extracellular vesicles (EVs), and cell lines associated with multiple cancer types. Subsequently, analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between TMEM92 and various parameters such as prognosis, DNA methylation, copy number variation (CNV), the tumor microenvironment (TME), immune cell infiltration, genes with immunological relevance, tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), mismatch repair (MMR), and half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values.

Results: In the present study, we observed a pronounced overexpression of TMEM92 across a majority of cancer types, which was concomitantly associated with a less favorable prognosis. A notable association emerged between TMEM92 expression and both DNA methylation and CNV. Furthermore, a pronounced relationship was discerned between TMEM92 expression, the TME, and the degree of immune cell infiltration. Intriguingly, while TMEM92 expression displayed a positive correlation with macrophage presence, it inversely correlated with the infiltration level of CD8 + T cells. Concurrently, significant associations were identified between TMEM92 and the major histocompatibility complex, TMB, MSI, and MMR. Results derived from Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and Gene Set Variation Analysis further substantiated the nexus of TMEM92 with both immune and metabolic pathways within the oncogenic context.

Conclusions: These findings expanded the understanding of the roles of TMEM92 in tumorigenesis and progression and suggest that TMEM92 may have an immunoregulatory role in several malignancies.

Keywords: Alteration; Immunity; Pan-cancer; Prognosis; TMEM92; Tumor microenvironment.