ALAD as a prognostic biomarker regulates metabolism and immune responses in renal cell carcinoma through multi-omics...

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common malignant tumor with metabolic reprogramming and immune evasion features. δ-Aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD), a key enzyme in heme biosynthesis, has been implicated in cancer progression and treatment outcomes, but its role in RCC remains unclear.

This study integrated multi-omics datasets from TCGA, CPTAC, and GEO to analyze ALAD's expression, prognostic value, and functional implications in RCC.

The results showed that ALAD expression is significantly downregulated in RCC tissues at both transcriptomic and proteomic levels, with low expression associated with advanced tumor stages, poor prognosis, and altered metabolic pathways. Functional enrichment and metabolic signature analyses revealed ALAD's association with metabolic processes and immune cell infiltration, particularly impacting CD8+ T cell-mediated immunity. Furthermore, ALAD expression correlated with sensitivity to specific anticancer drugs, suggesting potential therapeutic implications that required functional confirmation.

Overall, this study suggestes that ALAD is a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in RCC, highlighting its role in modulating the tumor immune microenvironment and metabolic landscape. These findings highlight an association between ALAD and RCC progression, though experimental validation is needed to confirm causality.