Research Paper Volume 16, Issue 3 pp 2953—2977

Overexpression of SPP1 is a prognostic indicator of immune infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma

Binbin Li1, , Xue Li2, , Qingfeng Yang3, , Yiyang Jiang1, , Qianwen Zhang2, , Jingtao Zhang1, , Wenqiang Cui4, , Fei Xu3, ,

  • 1 College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, China
  • 2 College of Acupuncture and Massage, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, China
  • 3 Department of Pneumology, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, China
  • 4 Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, China

Received: September 13, 2023       Accepted: January 3, 2024       Published: February 7, 2024      

https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205526
How to Cite

Copyright: © 2024 Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Objective: The extracellular phosphoprotein, secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1), plays a crucial role in various tumors and regulating the immune system. This study aimed to evaluate its prognostic value and relationship to immune infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).

Methods: In the TCGA and GEO datasets, the information on clinic and transcriptome analysis of SPP1 in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was examined accordingly. The association of SPP1 expression with overall survival and clinicopathologic characteristics was investigated by univariate and multivariate analysis. CancerSEA database was utilized to investigate the role of SPP1 at the cellular level by single-cell analysis. Additionally, the CIBERSORT algorithm was utilized to assess the correlation among the immune cells that infiltrated.

Results: NSCLC tissues exhibited a notable rise in SPP1 expression compared with that of normal tissues. Furthermore, the overexpression of SPP1 was substantially associated with clinicopathological features and unfavorable survival outcomes in individuals with LUAD, whereas no such correlation was observed in lung squamous cell carcinoma. Immune cells that infiltrate tumors and their corresponding genes were associated with SPP1 expression levels in LUAD.

Conclusions: SPP1 is a reliable indicator for assessing LUAD immune infiltration status and prognosis. With this approach, SPP1 can help earlier LUAD diagnosis and act as a possible immunotherapy target.

Abbreviations

SPP1: secreted phosphoprotein 1; LUAD: lung adenocarcinoma; TCGA: The Cancer Genome Atlas; GEO: Gene Expression Omnibus; NSCLC: non-small cell lung cancer; LUSC: lung squamous cell carcinoma; GDSC: Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer; OPN: osteopontin; Import: The Immunology Database and Analysis Portal; ROC: receiver operating characteristic; HR: hazard ratio; GSEA: Gene Set Enrichment Analysis; TILs: tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes; DCs: dendritic cells; KM: Kaplan-Meier; OS: overall survival; DSS: disease-specific survival; PFI: progression-free interval; TNM: tumor node metastasis; TAM: tumor-associated macrophage.