Peroxidase is a novel potential marker in glioblastoma through bioinformatics method and experimental validation

Peroxidase (PXDN), a specific extracellular matrix (ECM)-associated protein, has been determined as a tumor indicator and therapeutic target in various tumors. However, the effects of PXDN in prognostic performance and clinical implications in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains unknown. Here, we assessed PXDN expression pattern and its performance on prognosis among GBM cases from TCGA and CGGA databases. PXDN was up-regulated within GBM samples in comparison with normal control. High PXDN expression was a dismal prognostic indicator in GBM. Single cell RNA analysis was conducted to detect the cell localization of PXDN. We also set up a PPI network to explore the interacting protein associated with PXDN, including TSKU, COL4A1 and COL5A1. Consistently, functional enrichment analysis revealed that several cancer hallmarks were enriched in the GBM cases with high PXDN expression, such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), fatty acid metabolism, glycolysis, hypoxia, inflammatory response, and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. Next, this study analyzed the association of PXDN expression and immunocyte infiltration. PXDN expression was in direct proportion to the infiltrating degrees of NK cells resting, T cells regulatory, M0 macrophage, monocytes and eosinophils. The roles of PXDN on immunity were further estimated by PXDN-associated immunomodulators. In addition, four prognosis-related lncRNAs co-expressed with PXDN were identified. Finally, we observed that PXDN depletion inhibits GBM cell proliferation and migration by in vitro experiments. Our data suggested that PXDN has the potential to be a powerful prognostic biomarker, which might offer a basis for developing therapeutic targets for GBM.