A novel identified pyroptosis-related prognostic signature of colorectal cancer

Research progress on the effect of pyroptosis on the occurrence, development, invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer

Pyroptosis is a type of programmed cell death mediated by gasdermines (GSDMs). The N-terminal domain of GSDMs forms pores in the plasma membrane, causing cell membrane rupture and the release of cell contents, leading to an inflammatory response and mediating pyrodeath. Pyroptosis plays an important role in inflammatory diseases and malignant tumors. With the further study of pyroptosis, an increasing number of studies have shown that the pyroptosis pathway can regulate the tumor microenvironment and antitumor immunity of colorectal cancer and is closely related to the occurrence, development, treatment and prognosis of colorectal cancer. This review aimed to explore the molecular mechanism of pyroptosis and the role of pyroptosis in the occurrence, development, treatment and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to provide ideas for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of CRC.

Experimental prognostic model integrating N6-methyladenosine-related programmed cell death genes in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) intricacies, involving dysregulated cellular processes and programmed cell death (PCD), are explored in the context of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification. Utilizing the TCGA-COADREAD/CRC cohort, 854 m6A-related PCD genes are identified, forming the basis for a robust 10-gene risk model (CDRS) established through LASSO Cox regression. qPCR experiments using CRC cell lines and fresh tissues was performed for validation. The CDRS served as an independent risk factor for CRC and showed significant associations with clinical features, molecular subtypes, and overall survival in multiple datasets. Moreover, CDRS surpasses other predictors, unveiling distinct genomic profiles, pathway activations, and associations with the tumor microenvironment. Notably, CDRS exhibits predictive potential for drug sensitivity, presenting a novel paradigm for CRC risk stratification and personalized treatment avenues.

Pyroptosis-based risk score predicts prognosis and drug sensitivity in lung adenocarcinoma

Pyroptosis is a recently identified form of programmed cell death; however, its role in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. Therefore, we set out to explore the prognostic potential of pyroptosis-related genes in LUAD. The pyroptosis-related risk score (PRRS) was developed by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression and multivariate Cox regression. We found that PRRS was an independent prognostic factor for LUAD. LUAD patients in the high-PRRS group showed a significantly shorter overall survival (OS) and enriched in cell proliferation-related pathways. Then pathway enrichment analyses, mutation profile, tumor microenvironment, and drug sensitivity analysis were further studied in PRRS stratified LUAD patients. Tumor purity (TP) analyses revealed that L-PRRS LUAD patients had a lower TP, and patients in L-TP + L-PRRS subgroup had the most prolonged OS. Mutation analyses suggested that the L-PRRS LUAD patients had a lower tumor mutation burden (TMB), and patients in H-TMB + L-PRRS subgroup had the most prolonged OS. Drug sensitivity analyses showed that PRRS was significantly negatively correlated with the sensitivity of cisplatin, besarotene, etc., while it was significantly positively correlated with the sensitivity of kin001-135. Eventually, a nomogram was constructed based on PRRS and clinical characters of LUAD. Overall, the pyroptosis-related signature is helpful for prognostic prediction and in guiding treatment for LUAD patients.

Identification and Validation of Two Heterogeneous Molecular Subtypes and a Prognosis Predictive Model for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Pyroptosis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a worldwide malignant cancer with high incidence and mortality. Considering the high heterogeneity of HCC, clarifying molecular characteristics associated with HCC development could help improve patients' outcomes. Pyroptosis is a novel form of cell death and is noted to be implicated in HCC pathogenesis whereas its molecular feature in HCC is unclear. Thus, we intended to clarify the molecular characteristic as well as the clinical significance of pyroptosis for HCC. A systematic bioinformatics analysis was conducted among 40 pyroptosis-related genes based on The Cancer Genome Atlas, the International Cancer Genome Consortium, and the Gene Expression Omnibus databases. A total of 12 HCC-associated pyroptosis-related genes (HPRGs) were identified to be overexpressed in HCC tissues and significantly connected to patients' poor survival. Through consensus clustering based on the HPRGs' expression, we found patients could be stratified into two distinctive pyroptosis subtypes, PyLow and PyHigh. The PyHigh group owned a notable lower survival rate and a higher high-grade proportion compared with the PyLow subtype. Besides, patients' sensitivities to chemotherapeutic drugs also presented distinctive differences between the two subtypes. Indicated by pathway enrichment analysis and immune characteristic difference analysis, the distinctions between the pyroptosis subtypes may be related to tumor immunity. Further, a five-gene risk model composed of BAK1, CHMP4A, CHMP4B, DHX9, and GSDME was established. Subsequent analyses demonstrated that the model could credibly classify patients as low or high risk and was an independent prognostic indicator for HCC. Abnormal expressions of the five genes were validated by biological experiments and new bioinformatics analysis. In conclusion, this study recognized and verified two heterogeneous pyroptosis subtypes and a predictable prognosis model for HCC. Our work may help facilitate the clinical management and treatment of HCC and understand the functions of pyroptosis in oncology.

Identification of pyroptosis-related subtypes, development of a prognostic model, and characterization of tumour microenvironment infiltration in gastric cancer

As a new programmed death mode, pyroptosis plays an indispensable role in gastric cancer (GC) and has strong immunotherapy potential, but the specific pathogenic mechanism and antitumor function remain unclear. We comprehensively analysed the overall changes of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) at the genomic and epigenetic levels in 886 GC patients. We identified two molecular subtypes by consensus unsupervised clustering analysis. Then, we calculated the risk score and constructed the risk model for predicting prognostic and selected nine PRGs related genes (IL18RAP, CTLA4, SLC2A3, IL1A, KRT7,PEG10, IGFBP2, GPA33, and DES) through LASSO and COX regression analyses in the training cohorts and were verified in the test cohorts. Consequently, a highly accurate nomogram for improving the clinical applicability of the risk score was constructed. Besides, we found that multi-layer PRGs alterations were correlated with patient clinicopathological features, prognosis, immune infiltration and TME characteristics. The low risk group mainly characterized by increased microsatellite hyperinstability, tumour mutational burden and immune infiltration. The group had lower stromal cell content, higher immune cell content and lower tumour purity. Moreover, risk score was positively correlated with T regulatory cells, M1 and M2 macrophages. In addition, the risk score was significantly associated with the cancer stem cell index and chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity. This study revealed the genomic, transcriptional and TME multiomics features of PRGs and deeply explored the potential role of pyroptosis in the TME, clinicopathological features and prognosis in GC. This study provides a new immune strategy and prediction model for clinical treatment and prognosis evaluation.

Prognostic prediction of systemic immune-inflammation status for patients with colorectal cancer: a novel pyroptosis-related model

Pyroptosis and related gasdermin family proteins play an important role in the tumorigenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the prognostic roles of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) and their relation to infiltrates of immune cells in the pathogenesis of CRC remain unclear. Using this study, we set up a prognostic gene pattern on the basis of 13 PRGs (AIM2, CASP1, CASP5, CASP6, CASP8, CASP9, ELANE, GPX4, GSDMD, NLRP7, NOD2, PJVK, and PRKACA) for CRC patients. A comprehensive bioinformatics analysis based on these genes was then performed. With the good AUC prediction value of the ROC curves, the group with high hazard first had a poorer survival prognosis than the group with low hazard. Second, we found that PRGs were significantly related to inflammation-associated genes and immune-associated genes in CRC. Then, we identified a correlation of PRGs with immune infiltrations in CRC. For instance, the abundances of resting NK cells resting and neutrophils were higher in the low hazard group than in the high hazard group. Overall, this work indicated that PRGs contributed to generate heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment (TME) in CRC. This prognostic PRG model may provide a starting point for the early diagnosis and medication use of CRC.

A Novel Pyroptosis-Associated Gene Signature to Predict Prognosis in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Background

Pyroptosis is a form of cell death characterized by cell swelling and plasma membrane bubbling in association with inflammatory and immune responses. To date, the association between pyroptosis and colorectal cancer remains unclear. We aimed to establish a novel pyroptosis-associated model for the prognosis of colorectal cancer.

Methods

Pyroptosis-related genes were extracted using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. A least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression model was constructed to identify a pyroptosis-related gene signature using the Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases. Then, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology and GSEA were performed to better understand the potential mechanisms and the functional pathways associated with pyroptosis involved in colorectal cancer. The relationship between the pyroptosis-related signature and immune infiltration was investigated using Cell-Type Identification by Estimating Relative Subsets of RNA Transcripts and MCPcounter.

Results

A 12 pyroptosis-related gene signature was identified. Then, patients were classified into high- and low-risk groups. Kaplan–Meier and receiver operating characteristic analyses confirmed that the high-risk groups showed worse overall survival, progression-free survival, or relapse-free survival probability. Functional enrichment analysis showed that pyroptosis was associated with extracellular matrix-related pathways. Furthermore, the pyroptosis risk score was associated with immune infiltration. The low-risk group exhibited a higher percentage of plasma cells, CD4 T cells, activated dendritic cells, and activated mast cells. M2 macrophages and M0 macrophages were positively related to the risk score.

Conclusion

Our research yielded a novel pyroptosis-related prognostic signature for colorectal cancer that was related to immune cell infiltration, and it provided an immunological perspective for developing personalized therapies.