The novel putative methyltransferase METTL7A as one prognostic biomarker potentially associated with immune infiltration in human renal cancer

Zhiqian Yang; Wei Zhang; Lintai Li; Nan Hu; Xiangnan Dong; Yumei Chen; Wanxia Cai; Lianghong Yin; Fanna Liu; Donge Tang; Yong Dai

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15371

The novel putative methyltransferase METTL7A as one prognostic biomarker potentially associated with immune infiltration in human renal cancer

Heliyon. 2023 Apr 11;9(4):e15371. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15371. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Zhiqian Yang^{1

2}, Wei Zhang^{1

3}, Lintai Li^{1

3}, Nan Hu⁴, Xiangnan Dong², Yumei Chen¹, Wanxia Cai¹, Lianghong Yin², Fanna Liu², Donge Tang¹, Yong Dai^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518020, China.
² Institute of Nephrology and Blood Purification, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
³ Guangdong Fapon Biopharma Inc, Innovative Markers Department, Dongguan 523808, China.
⁴ Key Renal Laboratory of Shenzhen, Department of Nephrology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen 518020, China.

Abstract

Among urological cancers, renal cancer has the highest fatality rate. In a previous pan-cancer study of the METTL family, we observed a stronger association between the METTL family members and the risk of renal cancer compared to other cancers. Among these members, METTL7A, a potential methyltransferase, was identified as a protective factor, although its role and mechanism in renal cancer remain unclear. In this study, we utilized public databases to examine the expression of METTL7A in renal cancer tissues and normal tissues and found that METTL7A expression was much lower in renal cancer tissues. We also noticed a link between low METTL7A expression and poor prognosis for patients. According to the results of our functional enrichment analysis, METTL7A may have a role in immunological functions in renal cancer. METTL7A expression was strongly linked with the degrees of immune cell infiltration and expression of numerous immunological components. METTL7A had significantly different effects on the survival times of renal cancer patients with high or low immune infiltration. Our findings suggest that METTL7A may be used as both a prognostic biomarker and an immunological target for kidney cancer. In conclusion, our study sheds light on the importance of METTL7A in renal cancer and emphasizes the potential of targeting METTL7A as a novel therapeutic strategy for kidney cancer.

Keywords: Immune infiltration; METTL7A; Methyltransferase; Prognostic biomarker; Renal cancer.