A Novel Ferroptosis-Related Pathway for Regulating Immune Checkpoints in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

• Main Authors: Su Gao, Hailong Ruan, Jingchong Liu, Yuenan Liu, Di Liu, Junwei Tong, Jian Shi, Hongmei Yang, Tianbo Xu, Xiaoping Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-07-01
• Series: Frontiers in Oncology
• Subjects: clear cell renal cell carcinoma; ferroptosis; TAZ; WNT10B; immune checkpoints; PD-1
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.678694/full

Ferroptosis is a novel form of cell death and plays a role in various diseases, especially tumors. It has been reported that ferroptosis is involved in the growth and progression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC); however, the specific molecular mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we constructed a four-gene signature (FeSig) of ferroptosis-related genes via Cox regression analysis. ROC and survival analyses indicated that FeSig had good diagnostic and prognostic value. Further analysis revealed that ferroptosis was associated with tumor immunity in ccRCC. Next, weighted gene co-expression network analysis was performed to identify the potential regulatory mechanisms. Combined with correlation and survival analyses, the TAZ/WNT10B axis was identified as a tumor immune-related regulatory pathway. In conclusion, these findings suggest that ferroptosis is correlated with tumor immunity. The TAZ/WNT10B axis may be a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for immunotherapy in ccRCC.