Background: As immunotherapy has received attention as new treatments for brain cancer, the role of inflammation in the process of glioma is of particular importance. Increasing studies have further shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important factors that promote the development of glioma. However, the relationship between inflammation-related lncRNAs and the prognosis of glioma patients remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to construct and validate an inflammation-related lncRNA prognostic signature to predict the prognosis of low-grade glioma patients.
Methods: By downloading and analyzing the gene expression data and clinical information of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) patients with low-grade gliomas, we could screen for inflammatory gene-related lncRNAs. Furthermore, through Cox and the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regression analyses, we established a risk model and divided patients into high- and low-risk groups based on the median value of the risk score to analyze the prognosis. In addition, we analyzed the tumor mutation burden (TMB) between the two groups based on somatic mutation data, and explored the difference in copy number variations (CNVs) based on the GISTIC algorithm. Finally, we used the MCPCounter algorithm to study the relationship between the risk model and immune cell infiltration, and used gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses to explore the enrichment pathways and biological processes of differentially expressed genes between the high- and low-risk groups.
Results: A novel prognostic signature was constructed including 11 inflammatory lncRNAs. This risk model could be an independent prognostic predictor. The patients in the high-risk group had a poor prognosis. There were significant differences in TMB and CNVs for patients in the high- and low-risk groups. In the high-risk group, the immune system was activated more significantly, and the expression of immune checkpoint-related genes was also higher. The GSEA, GO, and KEGG analyses showed that highly expressed genes in the high-risk group were enriched in immune-related processes, while lowly expressed genes were enriched in neuromodulation processes.
Conclusion: The risk model of 11 inflammation-related lncRNAs can serve as a promising prognostic biomarker for low-grade gliomas patients.
Keywords: glioma; immunity; inflammation; lncRNA; prognosis.
Copyright © 2021 Xiang, Chen, Lv and Peng.