A Novel Ferroptosis-Related Prognostic Signature Reveals Macrophage Infiltration and EMT Status in Bladder Cancer

• Main Authors: Yilin Yan, Jinming Cai, Zhengnan Huang, Xiangqian Cao, Pengfei Tang, Zeyi Wang, Fang Zhang, Shujie Xia, Bing Shen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-08-01
• Series: Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
• Subjects: bladder cancer; ferroptosis; prognostic signature; macrophage; EMT status
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.712230/full

Bladder cancer (BC) belongs to one of the most common and highly heterogeneous malignancies. Ferroptosis is a newly discovered regulated cell death (RCD), characterized by accumulation of toxic lipid peroxides, and plays a crucial role in tumor progression. Here, we conducted a comprehensive analysis on the transcriptomics data of ferroptosis-related genes in BC based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and three Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. In our study, a 6-gene signature was identified based on the potential prognostic ferroptotic regulatory genes. Furthermore, our signature revealed a good independent prognostic ability in BC. Patients with low-risk score exhibited higher FGFR3 mutation rates while high risk score had a positive association with higher RB1 mutation rates. Meanwhile, higher proportions of macrophages were observed in high BC risk group simultaneously with four methods. Unexpectedly, the risk score showed a significant positive correlation with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) status. Functional assays indicated that CRYAB and SQLE knockdown was associated with attenuated invasion capacity. Our study revealed a ferroptosis-related risk model for predicting prognostic and BC progression. Our results indicate that targeting ferroptosis may be a therapeutic strategy for BC.