The vasculogenic mimicry related signature predicts the prognosis and immunotherapy response in renal clear cell...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Clear cell carcinoma of the kidney (ccRCC) presents significant challenges in patient prognosis and treatment efficacy.
• Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) modulation impacts the tumor microenvironment and immune cell infiltration.
• Combining VM inducers with immune checkpoint inhibitors shows synergistic antitumor effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel Vasculogenic Mimicry-Related Index (VMRI) for ccRCC prognosis and immunotherapy prediction.
• To analyze the relationship between VMRI, clinical features, and the tumor immune microenvironment.
• To investigate the functional role of CDH5 in ccRCC.

Main Methods:

• Utilized machine learning to establish VMRI from ccRCC samples and VM-related genes.
• Stratified patients into high and low VMRI groups for comprehensive analysis.
• Explored CDH5 function in ccRCC cell lines.

Main Results:

• VMRI, comprising CDH5, MMP9, MAPK1, and MMP13, reliably predicts ccRCC survival and grade, validated across datasets.
• Higher VMRI correlated with increased immune cell infiltration.
• CDH5 knockdown suppressed ccRCC proliferation and migration.

Conclusions:

• The developed VMRI offers accurate prognostic assessment for ccRCC patients.
• VMRI aids in identifying patient subgroups likely to benefit from immunotherapy.
• This index provides valuable insights for precision medicine in ccRCC treatment.