Construction and validation of an ACTA2-based prognostic scoring model for colorectal adenocarcinoma

This study aimed to construct and validate a clinical scoring model for colorectal adenocarcinoma (COAD) based on ACTA2 to identify novel biomarkers. COAD-related data were obtained from the TCGA database, and the expression of ACTA2 was verified by in vitro experiments. WGCNA analysis was used to explore the biological processes associated with ACTA2. The results showed that ACTA2 was downregulated in COAD tissues, but its high expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients. ACTA2 was closely related to immune cell infiltration, immune checkpoint genes, and tertiary lymphoid structure marker genes. In addition, there was a negative correlation between the methylation level and transcriptional level of ACTA2. The ACTA2-based clinical scoring model constructed in this study may serve as a novel biomarker for COAD, providing new insights for improving patient prognosis.