TREM2 as a Prognostic Biomarker for Osteosarcoma Microenvironment Remodeling

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• The tumor microenvironment (TME) significantly influences osteosarcoma (OS) progression.
• Mechanisms governing immune and stromal components within the OS TME are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify prognostic biomarkers in osteosarcoma by analyzing transcriptome and clinical data.
• To investigate the role of identified biomarkers in the immune landscape of the OS TME.

Main Methods:

• Utilized transcriptome data from the TARGET database and clinical information for OS patients.
• Employed CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE for immune and stromal cell proportion analysis.
• Applied Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) networks and Cox regression to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and prognostic biomarkers.

Main Results:

• Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) was identified as a significant prognostic biomarker for OS.
• TREM2 expression positively correlated with patient survival time and enrichment of immune function-related genes.
• TREM2 expression showed distinct associations with various tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs), including T cells and macrophages.

Conclusions:

• TREM2 plays a crucial role in the immune-related events within the osteosarcoma TME.
• TREM2 may serve as a valuable indicator for TME remodeling and predicting clinical outcomes in OS patients.
• TREM2 presents a potential target for novel immunotherapy strategies in osteosarcoma.