ACO1 and IREB2 downregulation confer poor prognosis and correlate with autophagy-related ferroptosis and immune infiltration in KIRC

Ting Zhu; Zhuoyu Xiao; Haoyu Yuan; Hu Tian; Taoyi Chen; Qi Chen; Mingkun Chen; Jiankun Yang; Qizhao Zhou; Wenbin Guo; Kangyi Xue; Ming Xia; Jiming Bao; Cheng Yang; Haifeng Duan; Hongyi Wang; Zhipeng Huang; Cundong Liu; Junhao Zhou

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.929838

ACO1 and IREB2 downregulation confer poor prognosis and correlate with autophagy-related ferroptosis and immune infiltration in KIRC

Front Oncol. 2022 Aug 17:12:929838. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.929838. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ting Zhu¹, Zhuoyu Xiao², Haoyu Yuan², Hu Tian², Taoyi Chen², Qi Chen², Mingkun Chen², Jiankun Yang², Qizhao Zhou², Wenbin Guo², Kangyi Xue², Ming Xia², Jiming Bao², Cheng Yang², Haifeng Duan², Hongyi Wang², Zhipeng Huang², Cundong Liu², Junhao Zhou²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Cancer Hospital and Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Urology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: ACO1 and IREB2 are two homologous cytosolic regulatory proteins, which sense iron levels and change iron metabolism-linked molecules. These two genes were noticeably decreased in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), which confer poor survival. Meanwhile, there is a paucity of information about the mechanisms and clinical significance of ACO1 and IREB2 downregulation in renal cancers.

Methods: The expression profiles of ACO1 and IREB2 were assessed using multiple public data sets via several bioinformatics platforms. Clinical and pathological information was utilized to stratify cohorts for comparison. Patient survival outcomes were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier plotter, a meta-analysis tool. The correlations of ACO1 and IREB2 with ferroptosis were further evaluated in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-KIRC database. Tumor immune infiltration was analyzed using the CIBERSORT, TIMER, and GEPIA data resources. ACO1 antagonist sodium oxalomalate (OMA) and IREB2 inhibitor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was used to treat renal cancer ACHN cells together with sorafenib.

Results: KIRC patients with low ACO1 or IREB2 contents exhibited a remarkably worse survival rate in contrast with those with high expression in Kaplan-Meier survival analyses. Meanwhile, ACO1 and IREB2 regulate autophagy-linked ferroptosis along with immune cell invasion in the tumor microenvironment in KIRC patients. Blocking the activation of these two genes by their inhibitors OMA and SNP ameliorated sorafenib-triggered cell death, supporting that ACO1 and IREB2 could be participated in its cytotoxic influence on renal cancer cells.

Conclusion: ACO1 and IREB2 downregulation in renal cancers were correlated with cancer aggressiveness, cellular iron homeostasis, cytotoxic immune cell infiltration, and patient survival outcomes. Our research is integral to verify the possible significance of ACO1 and IREB2 contents as a powerful signature for targeted treatment or novel immunotherapy in clinical settings.

Keywords: ACO1; IREB2; disease progression; ferroptosis; kidney renal clear cell carcinoma; tumor immune infiltration.