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Pan-Cancer Analysis of P3H1 and Experimental Validation in Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma

Yongjie Li1(D . Ting Wang2 . Feng Jiang3

Accepted: 19 December 2023 / Published online: 4 January 2024 @ The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023

Abstract

Prolyl 3-hydroxylase 1 (P3H1) has been implicated in cancer development, but no pan- cancer analysis has been conducted on P3H1. In this study, for the first time, aspects asso- ciated with P3H1, such as the mRNA expression, any mutation, promoter methylation, and prognostic significance, the relationship between P3H1 and clinicopathological param- eters, drug sensitivity, and immune cell infiltration were investigated by searching several databases including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), cBioPortal, and The Tumor Immune Evaluation Resource (TIMER2.0) using bio- informatics tools. The findings indicate significant differential expression of P3H1 in most tumors when compared to normal tissues, with a strong association with clinical prognosis. A pan-cancer Cox regression analysis revealed that high P3H1 expression is significantly associated with low overall survival in patients with brain lower grade glioma, kidney clear cell carcinoma, adrenocortical cancer, liver hepatocellular carcinoma, mesothelioma, sar- coma, uveal melanoma, bladder urothelial carcinoma, kidney papillary cell carcinoma, kid- ney chromophobe, thymoma, and thyroid carcinoma. A negative correlation was observed between P3H1 DNA methylation and its expression. P3H1 is significantly associated with infiltrating cells, immune-related genes, tumor mutation burden, microsatellite instability, and mismatch repair. Finally, A significant correlation was found between P3H1 expres- sion and sensitivity to nine drugs. Thus, enhanced P3H1 expression is associated with poor prognosis in a variety of tumors, which may be due to its role in tumor immune regulation and tumor microenvironment. This pan-cancer analysis provides insight into the function of P3H1 in tumorigenesis of different cancers and provides a theoretical basis for further in-depth studies to follow.

Keywords P3H1 . Pan-cancer . Prognosis . Immune infiltration . Tumor microenvironment

☒ Yongjie Li 11753599@qq.com

1 School of Pharmacy, Shaoyang University, Shaoyang, Hunan, China

2 The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, China

3 Department of Nutrition, Taizhou Central Hospital, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China

Background

According to the most recent evaluation by the International Agency for Research on Can- cer, a subsidiary of the World Health Organization, the global incidence of new cancer cases has escalated to 19.29 million in 2020, with corresponding 9.96 million fatalities [1]. In the twenty-first century, cancer is expected to overtake cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of premature death. Alarmingly, the current data also show that for the first time, breast cancer has surpassed lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed can- cer worldwide. The current treatment modalities for cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and tumor immunotherapy, which have been rapidly developing in recent years [2]. Despite the clinical success of these treatments, the prognosis and survival rates of cancer patients are still not optimistic due to drug resistance, adverse drug reactions, and individual differences [3, 4]. As a result, more new tumor biomarkers and therapeutic tar- gets are urgently needed for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Collagen synthesis and assembly is performed by the enzyme encoded by the prolyl 3-hydroxylase 1 (P3H1) gene. This enzyme is a member of the family of collagen proline hydroxylases and is found in the endoplasmic reticulum [5]. P3H1 belongs to a family of gene products that also includes the isozymes prolyl 3-hydroxylase 2 (P3H2), -3 (P3H3), and -4 (P3H4) and cartilage-associated protein (CRTAP). P3H1, P3H2, and P3H3 all con- tain highly conserved 2-ketoglutarate, ascorbate, and Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenase struc- tural domains that hydroxylate specific proline residues [6, 7]. P3H is responsible for pro- line 3-hydroxylation, an important post-translational modification of collagen, and its loss of function contributes to the development of the disease [8]. Several investigations have linked osteogenesis imperfecta to P3H1 mutations [9-12]. Retinal tears and posterior vitre- ous detachment are attributed to mutations in the P3H1 gene, coding for P3H1, which is involved in post-translational modification of type I, type II, and type V collagen [13]. In addition, hearing is greatly affected in P3H1 gene-deficient mice [14]. However, evidence links certain P3H family members to an increased risk of cancers, such as bladder cancer [15], lung cancer [16], breast cancer [17], and renal clear cell carcinoma [18].

However, bioinformatics studies of the role of P3H1 in pan-cancer are lacking. There- fore, in this study for the first time, several publicly available free databases were searched, and the role of P3H1 in pan-cancer was systemically analyzed. P3H1 may have a role in multiple aspects of pan-cancer, including mRNA expression, clinical prognosis, genetic alterations, immune cell infiltration, and drug sensitivity (Supplemental Fig. 1). P3H1 is a biomarker for immune infiltration and prognosis and a viable target for tumor treatment. This study may give a theoretical foundation for a deeper understanding of the function of P3H1 in tumor immunotherapy.

Methods

Differential Expression Analysis and Data Processing

Data of P3H1 expression was gathered from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database (https://commonfund.nih.gov/GTEx) for 31 normal tissues and from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) (https://sites.broadinstitute.org/ccle/) for 21 tumor cell lines [19, 20]. The degree of variation in P3H1 expression between normal and cancerous

tissues in 33 tumors was analyzed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (https://tcgad ata.nci.nih.gov/tcga/) datasets [21]. The TCGA and GTEx data were collected from the UCSC Xena database (https://xena.ucsc.edu/); data for tumor tissues were obtained from the TCGA, and those for normal tissues were from both the TCGA and the GTEx [22]. UCSC Xena is a visualization online platform that provides TCGA genomic data. Down- loading the pan-cancer TPM expression values from the UCSC Xena website, which includes standardized TCGA and GTEx RNA Seq data, allows for more reliable expression analysis of tumor and normal samples. We downloaded renal clear cell carcinoma RNA Seq data in TPM data format from the UCSC Xena website, including samples from GTEx normal tissues (28 cases), TCGA adjacent tissues (72 cases), TCGA tumor tissues (531 cases), all sourced from UCSC Xena database and processed through the Toil pipeline.

Clinical Staging and Survival Analysis

Clinical data from the TCGA database were used to draw correlations between P3H1 expression with clinicopathological staging and patient prognosis, primarily in terms of overall survival (OS). We examined OS for all 33 cancers using Cox regression analysis and displayed the findings using Forest plots and Kaplan-Meier curves. The R packages survminer and survival were employed for analysis and visualization.

P3H1 Gene Mutation Analysis

To analyze mutation in the P3H1 gene, the cBioPortal database (http://www.cbioportal. org) was selected [23]. Through this site, we obtained information on the frequency of P3H1 gene mutation, mutation type, and changes in copy number and obtained information on promoter methylation in pan-cancerous tissues from the TCGA database, using HM450 methylation data.

Enrichment Analysis of P3H1

We performed a gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) using data from the Reactome data- base, on the possible molecular mechanism of P3H1 in 33 cancers. ClusterProfiler, an R tool, was used for the analysis and visualization.

Tumor Microenvironment (TME) Analysis and Estimation of STromal and Immune Cells in MAlignant Tumor (ESTIMATE) Analysis

High and low P3H1 gene expression groups were visually distinguished through one box plot per tumor was generated to visually distinguish between, and a heat map was used to illustrate the relationship between gene and pathway scores as part of a TME study [24]. Then, the R language “ESTIMATE” package was used to calculate stromal cell scores, immune cell scores, combined stromal and immune cell scores, and tumor purity were cal- culated for tumor tissues, and all correlation results were presented using heat maps.

P3H1 Expression and Immune Correlation Analysis

Heat maps using data on pan-cancer immune infiltration obtained from the TIMER2.0 database (http://timer.comp-genomics.org/) were utilized to illustrate the link between P3H1 expression and each immune cell [25]. P3H1 expression levels were also com- pared to those of other immune-related genes (such as major histocompatibility com- plex (MHC), immune activation genes, immune suppression genes, chemokines, and chemokine receptors) and used the “reshape2,” “RcolorBreyer,” and “ggplot2” packages to graphically represent our findings.

Gene Expression for Mismatch Repair (MMR), Microsatellite Instability (MSI), and Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) are all Associated with P3H1 Expression

Using Perl scripts, TMB scores were computed and adjusted for total exon length. For all samples, MSI levels were calculated using information on somatic mutations obtained from TCGA. The R packages “reshape2” and “RcolorBreyer” were used to pre- pare heat maps to assess the correlation of P3H1 expression with TMB and MSI. P3H1 expression was correlated with MMR gene expression in pan-cancer using TCGA data. This included MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and EpCAM. We used the “reshape2” and “RcolorBreyer” packages included in the R software suite to create these charts.

Tumor cell IC50 and gene expression data were downloaded from the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) (https://www.cancerrxgene.org/) database, the rela- tionship between P3H1 and drug IC50 was analyzed, and the correlation between P3H1 expression and IC50 for each drug separately plotted [26].

Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (Q-PCR)

Human renal cancer cell lines Caki-1, OS-RC-2, 786-O, and 769-P, and the human renal proximal tubule cells HK-2 were obtained from the Cell Bank of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China). We followed the protocol for RNA extraction, reverse transcription for cDNA synthesis, and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR proce- dures. P3H1, forward 5’- GATCCAGGACAGGGTGCAG-3’, reverse 5’-GCTCATCCT TGGGCTTCGAT-3’; ß-actin forward 5’-TTCCTTCCTGGGCATGGAGTC-3’, reverse 5’-TCTTCATTGTGCTGGGTGCC-3’.

Western Blotting

Protein was extracted using chilled RIPA buffer containing a protease (phosphatase) inhibitor. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed to separate proteins, which were then transferred to the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane. Primary antibody (P3H1, 1:1000) was diluted with antibody diluent, added to the membrane, and incubated at room temperature for 10 min, and then stored at 4 ℃ overnight after being sealed with 5% skim milk for 1 h. Goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L)

conjugated with horseradish peroxidase was diluted 1:10,000 in 5% skim milk powder- TBST and gently shaken for 40 min at room temperature. Enhanced chemiluminescence reagent was added to the membrane and reacted for 2-5 min and placed in a developer for development and exposure. The developed images were visualized and saved for data analysis. After development, the integrated optical density values of the strips were read using the software Image J and the data were analyzed.

Results

P3H1 Expression in Multiple Cancers and Normal Tissues

A combine study of TCGA and GTEx datasets revealed that P3H1 was differentially expressed in 27 cancers. Compared with normal tissues, the expression of P3H1 was high in 18 cancers and low in 9 cancers (Fig. 1A). Based on the mean P3H1 expression level, we rated 33 tumors from highest to lowest, using data from the TCGA database (Fig. 1B). The expression of P3H1 varies in all types of cancer, with the highest expression in sarcoma (SARC) and the lowest in kidney chromophobe (KICH). Next, using the GTEx database, we analyzed the physiological levels of the P3H1 gene among different tissues (Fig. 1C) and found relatively low P3H1 expression in most other normal organs, but among the highest in the pituitary, the nerve, and the testis tissues. CCLE results showed frequently higher P3H1 expression in many tumor cell lines compared to normal tissues (Fig. 1D).

A



10


ns


.***













ns


ns




ns


=

5

P3H1 expression TPM

tumor_type

0

normal

tumor

5

-10

.

ACC

BLCA

BRCA

CESC

CHOL

COAD

DLBC

ESCA

GBM

HNSC

KICH

KIRC

KIRP

LAML

LGG

LIHC

LUAD

LUSC

MESO

OV

PAAD PCPG

PRAD

READ

SARC

SKCM

STAD

TGCT

THCA

THYM

UCEC

UCS

UVM

tissue

B

Mean expression of P3H1 in TCGA

C

Mean expression of P3H1 in GTEx

4

7,88

-

-

-

LAML

W

-

-

-

0.03

0.14

U

-

CHÓN

-

-

-

Adpine Tiasve

-

-

D

Mean expression of P3H1 in CCLE

8.54

-

-

Fig. 1 P3H1 might vary from cell to cell. A Variations in the pan-cancer expression of P3H1 in TCGA when paired with the GTEx database. B The expression of P3H1 in 33 different tumor tissues from the TCGA database. C The expression of P3H1 in various normal tissues based on the GTEx database. D The expression of P3H1 in a variety of cancer cell lines included in the CCLE database. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001

CIAO/READ ESCA

-

THCA

4.75

-

BANG

1.26

-

-

-

WAD

-

Đ

Fig. 2 A-O Comparative analysis of P3H1 expression in paired malignant and noncancerous tissues from diverse malignancies using TCGA database. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001

A

B

C

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

.

7-

.***

-

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

.6

6

6

5

5

5

A

4

4

3

3

·

2

:

3

Tumor

BLCA

Normal

Tumor

BRCA

Normal

Tumor

CHOL

Normal

D

E

F

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

-

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

5

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

61

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

6

4

5

4

4

.

4

3

3

2

2

2

1

Tumor

COAD

Normal

Tumor

ESCA

Normal

Tumor

HNSC

Normal

G

H

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

71


P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

6

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

6

5

5

5

%

4

3

3

3

2

2

Tumor

KIRC

Normal

2

Tumor

KIRP

Normal

Tumor

LIHC

Normal

J

K

L

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

7

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

6

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

5.0

6

4.5

.5

5

4.0

4

4

3.5

3

3

3.0

:

Tumor

LUAD

Normal

Tumor

LUSC

Normal

Tumor

PRAD

Normal

M

N

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

Type

Tumor

Normal

6-


.

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

>5

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

6.0

4

5

5.5

4

5.0

4.5

2

3

4.0

Tumor

STAD

Normal

Tumor

THCA

Normal

Tumor

UCEC

Normal

P3H1 Expression Levels in Paired Tumors and Normal Tissues

We used the TCGA database and further compared the difference of P3H1 expression between paired tumor and paraneoplastic tissues in multiple cancers (Fig. 2A-2O). The data showed that compared to paraneoplastic tissues, P3H1 showed high expression in 15 cancers, including bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA), breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA), cholangiocarcinoma (CHOL), colon adenocarcinoma (COAD), esophageal car- cinoma (ESCA), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), kidney clear cell car- cinoma (KIRC), kidney papillary cell carcinoma (KIRP), liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), prostate

adenocarcinoma (PRAD), stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD), thyroid carcinoma (THCA), uterine corpus endometrioid carcinoma (UCEC).

An Analysis of the Correlation Between P3H1 Expression and Clinicopathology Across Cancers

Our analysis included patients with malignancies at different stages (I, II, III, and IV), and assessed how P3H1 expression correlated with clinicopathological characteristics.

The study found that P3H1 is expressed differently in various stages of several types of cancer (Fig. 3), including adrenocortical cancer (ACC), BLCA, COAD, ESCA, KIRC, LIHC, mesothelioma (MESO), STAD, and THCA. In addition, we use the UALCAN data- base to evaluate the expression of P3H1 protein in different tumor stages, and we found that P3H1 protein is highly expressed in different stages of some tumor types (Supplemen- tal Fig. 2).

An Analysis of the Correlation Between P3H1 Expression and Genetic Alterations

Figure 4A shows the pan-cancer analysis of the link between the amount of P3H1 gene expression and the number of copies. In pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PCPG) tumors, the expression of the P3H1 gene was linked to the number of copies, and this relationship was the most robust of any type of tumor ( **** p<0.0001). The

Fig. 3 A-I P3H1 expression was correlated with ACC, BLCA, COAD, ESCA, KIRC, LIHC, MESO, STAD, and THCA at stages I, II, III, and IV using TCGA data. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001

A

B

C

ns

2.5-

ns

ns

ns

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

10

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

ns

10.0

ns

9

n$

.

ns

.

8

ns

ns

ns

7.5

.

6

6

5.0

3

4

2.5

2

Stage I

Stage II

ACC

Stage II

Stage IV

Stage I

Stage II

BLCA

Stage III

Stage IV

0

Stage I

Stage II

COAD

Stage III

Stage IV

D

E

F

0-

ns

ns

ns

ns

10

ns

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

ns

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

ns

8

ns

ns

ns

10

.

ns

8

-

.

6

!

6

:

5

4

:

4

2

·

Stage I

Stage II

Stage III

Stage IV

Stage I

Stage II

Stage III

Stage IV

Stage I

Stage II

Stage III

Stage IV

ESCA

KIRC

LIHC

G

H

ns

n$

:

ns

ns

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

ns

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

ns

9

ns

ns

8

.

ns

7.5

ns

ns

ns

ns

·

7

6

5.0

5

4

2.5

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:

·

Stage I

Stage II

Stage III

MESO

Stage IV

2

Stage I

Stage II

STAD

Stage III

Stage IV

Stage I

Stage II

THCA

Stage III

Stage IV

Fig. 4 Mutation status of the P3H1 gene. A Correlation between the expression of P3H1 gene and the copy number of this gene in pan-cancer. B Correlation between P3H1 expression and copy number in KIRC. C Pan-cancer P3H1 gene expression and its association with methylation. D The correlation between P3H1 expression and methylation in KIRC

A

B

label

non-significant

positive

KIRC, n = 522, r = 0.37(pearson), p.value= 0

0.5

P3H1 Relative linear copy-number values

A

0.5

043

0.4

4

Y

A

S

correlation

J

3

E

5

De

5

0.0

3

5

2

.2

0.2

0.2

A

1

1

I

-0.5

2

2

A

0.0

0

PCPG

UVM

DLBC

THYM

LGG

SARC

LUSC

KIRC

CHOL

LUAD

KIRP

KICH

BLCA-

LIHC

SKCM-

PAAD-

UCEC

ESCA

BRCA

MESO

TGCT

OV

HNSC

CESC

STAD

PRAD

ACC

READ

COAD

UCS-

GBM

LAML

THCA-

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

2

4

6

8

Correlation between CNA and mRNA expression

C

D

label

negtive

non-significant

KIRC, n = 317, r = - 0.14(pearson), p.value= 0.0116

0.0

LO

0.0

OU

P3H1 Methylation (HM450)

0.75

0.

0.1

0.14

0.1

N

-0.2

0,1

0.2

A

correlation

A

0.2

02

2

2

2

5

8

0.3

8

2

05

0.50

0.4

9

DA

I

=

=

-0.6

0.25

a.7

.

LAML

GBM

KICH

KIRP

LUAD

THCA

UCEC

KIRC

READ

CESC

PAAD

THYM-

DLBC

TGCT

HNSC

BRCA

PRAD

SKCM-

BLCA

SARC

LUSC

MESO

UCS

PCPG-

LIHC

COAD

STAD

ESCA-

CHOL

LGG-

UVM-

A

ACC-

Ov-

P3H1 expression log2(TPM+0.001)

3

5

7

Correlation between Methylation and mRNA expression

relationship between the level of P3H1 gene expression and the level of methylation of its promoter are presented in Fig. 4C. In ovarian plasmacytoid cystic adenocarci- noma, a strongly negative relationship was noted between the level of gene expres- sion and the level of methylation of its promoter (*p <0.05). As shown in Figs. 4B and 4C, the expression of P3H1 in KIRC is positively correlated with its number of copies ( **** p <0.0001), and is negatively correlated with its promoter methylation (*p<0.05).

A Pan-Cancer Analysis and Determination of The Prognostic Value of P3H1

We examined the link between P3H1 expression and patient outcome using a pan-can- cer dataset and measured the OS. A Cox regression analysis of 33 cancers showed a significant association of P3H1 to OS in 12 cancers, including brain lower grade glioma (LGG), KIRC, ACC, LIHC, MESO, SARC, uveal melanoma (UVM), BLCA, KIRP, KICH, thymoma (THYM), and THCA (Fig. 5A). Interestingly, P3H1 was a high-risk gene in 10 of the 11 cancers with a strong link to OS, but not in THYM. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed a significant association of higher P3H1 expres- sion and worse OS in ACC, BLCA, CHOL, COAD, KIRC, KIRP, LGG, LIHC, MESO, SARC, and UVM (Fig. 5B-5L). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that these 11 types of cancer were more likely to have a worse outcome in case of increased P3H1 transcript levels.

Fig. 5 Association between P3H1 expression and OS of patients with cancer. A A Forest plot depicting the risk ratio of P3H1 in 33 types of tumors. B-L Kaplan-Meier survival curves for OS of patients with ACC, BLCA, CHOL, COAD, KIRC, KIRP, LGG, LIHC, MESO, SARC, and UVM with median gene expression values for high expression and low expression groups, respectively. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001

A

B

C

D

pvalue

Hazard ratio

LGG

<0.001

2.140(1.736-2.639)

ACC P3H1 Survival

BLCA P3H1 Survival

CHOL P3H1 Survival

KIRC

<0.001

1.915(1.598-2.295)

ACC

<0.001

3.174(2.095-4.808)

1.00

1.00-

LIHC

<0.001

1.825(1.455-2.288)

MESO

<0.001

1.899(1.433-2.516)

0.25

Survival probability

SARC

<0.001

1.382(1.149-1.662)

Survival probability

UVM

0.001

2.545(1.435-4.513)

0.50

8 50

BLCA

0.002

1.277(1.097-1.487)

KIRP

0.005

1.958(1.226-3.128)

P < 0.0001

p= 0.0029

P=0.045

KICH

0.008

2.643(1.285-5.433)

:

THYM

0.014

0.233(0.073-0.745)

Tìmg (days)

-

.

Tive (days)

THCA

0.031

2.354(1.082-5.125)

Time (orys)

Number at risk

Number at risk

Number at risk

STAD

0.068

1.216(0.986-1.500)

-

17

203

45

16

0

LUAD

0.076

1.203(0.981-1.474)

Ne

8

M

4

2

,

H

A

GBM

0.104

1.203(0.963-1.503)

.

29

202

22

bu

1000

Time (days)

4000

1

0000

4000

5006

Teve (daya)

2000

CHOL

0.138

2.006(0.799-5.036)

READ

0.196

1.633(0.776-3.437)

COAD

0.221

1.202(0.895-1.615)

PCPG

0.281

0.502(0.143-1.758)

LUSC

0.373

1.085(0.907-1.298)

E

F

G

BRCA

0.407

1.100(0.879-1.376)

COAD P3H1 Survival

KIRC P3H1 Survival

KIRP P3H1 Survival

CESC

0.424

1.131(0.836-1.531)

OV

0.465

0.953(0.839-1.084)

UCS

1.155(0.771-1.730)

1.00-

180.

0.484

PRAD

0.523

1.625(0.366-7.212)

HNSC

0.688

1.029(0.894-1.185)

Survival probability

Survival probability

SKCM

0.818

1.021(0.856-1.217)

50

TGCT

0.830

1.149(0.324-4.077)

UCEC

0.833

1.047(0.686-1.597)

p= 0.034

p < 0.0001

0.25

p=0.016

PAAD

0.864

1.024(0.783-1.339)

ESCA

0.975

0.996(0.751-1.321)

3000

6000

LAML

3000

0.981

0.995(0.664-1.492)

Time (days)

Tima (daya)

DLBC

0.998

0.998(0.255-3.916)

Number at risk

Number at risk

Number at risk

a

142

43

0.062 0.125 0.259 0500 100 200 420

142

53

9

1.

265

2

131

17

OR

23

A

-

143

24

143 0

65

H

M

A

Hazard ratio

a

Time (days)

4000

23

M

1000

Time gaysığ

-

2000

Time (dayı)

4000

5000

6000

H

J

K

L

LGG P3H1 Survival

LIHC P3H1 Survival

MESO P3H1 Survival

SARC P3H1 Survival

UVM P3H1 Survival

1.00

Survival probability

M

Survival probability

Survival grobuesity

p < 0.0001

p=0.0011

p=0.0001

p= 0.01

p = 0.00050

Time (days()

Time (days()

-

-

Time (days)

Time (dart)

-

Number at risk

Number at risk

Number at risk

Number at risk

Number at risk

4

259

16

10

0

2

183

182

40

2

43

63

12

NA

P

o

131

20

23

O

131

66

13

3

2

A2

0

25

0

30

4

ES

:

.

Time (days)

4000

.

Tìmg (days()

-

.

.

Timo (days)

5000

6000

.

500

2500

GSEA Enrichment Analysis

A GESA enrichment analysis was done on the Reactome database to assess the functional relevance of P3H1 expression in a variety of tumor types (Fig. 6). Data from nine tumor types, including ACC, BRCA, COAD, ESCA, KIRC, LGG, LIHC, ovarian serous cystad- enocarcinoma (OV), and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD), showed the association of P3H1 expression to cell cycle and immune regulatory pathways. These included cell cycle- related pathways (cell cycle, mitotic, M-phase, etc.) and immune regulatory pathways (innate immune system, cytokine signaling in immune system, adaptive immune system, and so on).

Correlation Analysis of P3H1 Expression and TME

Next, we examined the relation between P3H1 expression and TME in pan-cancer. As shown in Fig. 7A, P3H1 expression in pan-cancer samples was highly linked with path- way scores, including the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), the pan-focal T cell receptor, the immune checkpoint, and other pathways. Next, we assessed the corre- lation between P3H1 expression levels and the aforementioned three scores (Fig. 7B), revealing that the stromal score, the ESTIMATE score, the immune score, and the tumor Purity. Except for LAML, we found that P3H1 expression was strongly linked with the stromal score and the ESTIMATE score. In addition, P3H1 expression in all tumor types excluding testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT), skin cutaneous melanoma

Fig. 6 GSEA Enrichment Analysis based on Reactome database. (A-I) Biological process analysis of P3H1 in ACC, BRCA, COAD, ESCA, KIRC, LGG, LIHC, OV, and PAAD, respectively

Cell Lyde, MIOIC

Diseases of glycosylation

Regulation of Insulin-like Growth Factor (IG+)

Cel Cycle

transport and uptake by Insulin- like Growin For

RHO GTPase Effectors

Glycosaminoglycan metabolism

Degesofdycostation Diseases of glycosylation

Axon guidance

Diseases of metabolism

Platelet degranulation

Nervous system development

Platelet activation, signaling and aggregation

Response to elevated platelet cytosolic Ca2+

Infectious disease

Metabolism of carbohydrates

Platelet activation, signaling and aggregation

Transcriptional Regulation by TP53

Muscle contraction

Immunoregulatory interactions between a Lymphoid

and a non-Lymphoid cel

Signaling by Rho GTPases, Miro GTPases and RHOBTB3

CDC42 GTPase cycle

p.adjust

Diseases of metabolism

Signaling by Rho GTPases

Axon guidance

p.adjust

Hemostasis

p.adjust

Cellular responses to stress

Nervous system development

COPI-mediated anterograde transport

Cellular responses to external stimuli

0.005257606

Signaling by Receptor Tyrosine Kinases

0.0/1200081

Metabolism of carbohydrates

0.01780613

Metabolism of amino acids and derivatives

Hemostasis

Unfolded Protein Response (UPR)

Diseases of signal transduction by growth factor

receptors and second messengers

Neutrophil degranulation

ER to Golgi Anterograde Transport

Post-translational protein modification

Signaling by Interleukins

Leishmania infection

Class I MHC mediated antigen processing &

presentation

Signaling by GPCR-

Signaling by Receptor Tyrosine Kinases

Adaptive Immune System

Innate Immune System

Cytokine Signaling in Immune system

RNA Polymerase Il Transcription

Cytokine Signaling in Immune system

Neutrophil degranulation

Developmental Biology

GPCR ligand binding

Innate Immune System

Membrane Trafficking

GPCR downstream signaling

Adaptive Immune System

Vesicle-mediated transport

Developmental Biology

Vesicle-mediated transport-

0.4 0.6 0.8

0.0

0.3

0.6

0.9

0.25 0.50 0.75

D

E

F

Extracellular matrix organization

Collagen formation

Mitotic Prometaphase

Mitotic Metaphase and Anaphase

Degradation of the extracellular matrix

Mitotic Anaphase

Cell Cycle Checkpoints

Post-translational protein phosphorylation Regulation of Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF)

Mitotic Metaphase and Anaphase

Processing of Capped Intron-Containing Pre-mRNA

transport and uptake by Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins (IGFEPS)

Separation of Sister Chromatids

Cell Cycle, Mitotic

Glycosaminoglycan metabolism

Cell Cycle Checkpoints

Metabolism of RNA

Diseases of glycosylation

Cell Cycle, Mitotic

Cell Cycle

Cilium Assembly

M Phase

M Phase

Immunoregulatory interactions between a Lymphoid

p.adjust

Processing of Capped Intron-Containing Pre-mRNA

p.adjust

DNA Repair

p.adjust

and a non-Lymphoid cell

Cell Cycle

Extracellular matrix organization

Platelet degranulation

Metabolism of RNA

Response to elevated platelet cytosclic Ca2+ Platelet activation, signaling and aggregation

081942002

0012549-49

Transcriptional Regulation by TP53

mRNA Splicing - Major Pathway

0.007569141

Cytokine Signaling in Immune system

Axon guidance

Neutrophil degranulation

Signaling by Hedgehog

RHO GTPase Effectors

Translation

Leishmania parasite growth and survival-

Anti-inflammatory response favouring Leishmania

Nervous system development

Signaling by Interleukins

parasite infection

Metabolism of carbohydrates

Innate Immune System

Hemostasis

Signaling by Rho GTPases

Generic Transcription Pathway

Nervous system development

Signaling by Rho GTPases, Miro GTPases and RHOBTB3

RHO GTPase Effectors

Axon guidance

DNA Repair

Class I MHC mediated antigen processing &

Signaling by Receptor Tyrosine Kinases

Cytokine Signaling in Immune system

presentation

Adaptive Immune System

Adaptive Immune System

RHO GTPase cycle

Cellular responses to stress

0.3

0.6

0.9

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

0.3 0.6 0.9

G

H

I

Cell Cycle Checkpoints

Membrane Trafficking

Mitotic Anaphase

Vesicle-mediated transport

Platelet degranulation

Cell Cycle, Mitotic

PTEN Regulation

Response to elevated platelet cytosolic Ca2+

Cell Cycle

S Phase

Apoptosis

M Phase

Regulation of TP53 Activity

G1/S Transition

DNA Repair

Cell Cycle

Platelet activation, signaling and aggregation

RHO GTPase Effectors

G1/S Transition

Neutrophil degranulation

Transcriptional Regulation by TP53

Cell Cycle, Mitotic

Programmed Cell Death

Cellular responses to stress

p.adjust

Diseases of signal transduction by growth factor

p.adjust

Innate Immune System

padjust

Cellular responses to external stimuli

receptors and second messengers

PTEN Regulation

Axon guidance

0.005675834

Signaling by VEGF

0003963524

S Phase

Transcriptional Regulation by TP53 PIP3 activates AKT signaling

8000543211

Organelle biogenesis and maintenance

Mitotic G1 phase and G1/S transition

Cell Cycle

Nervous system development

Mitotic G1 phase and G1/S transition

Adaptive Immune System

Infectious disease

Apoptosis

Hemostasis

Signaling by Rho GTPases, Miro GTPases and RHOBTB3

Transcriptional regulation by RUNX2

Vesicle-mediated transport

Signaling by Rho GTPases

Antigen processing: Ubiquitination & Proteasome

Programmed Cell Death

PIP3 activates AKT signaling

degradation

Intracellular signaling by second messengers

Diseases of signal transduction by growth factor

Neddylation

Neutrophil degranulation

receptors and second messengers

Class I MHC mediated antigen processing &

Membrane Trafficking

presentation

Adaptive Immune System

Cytokine Signaling in Immune system

Generic Transcription Pathway

Innate Immune System

Developmental Biology

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

0.4

0.6

0,8

(SKCM), and LAML, was positively linked with the immune score. Finally, except for LAML, the expression of P3H1 was strongly inversely linked with tumor purity.

Tumor Immune Cell Infiltration and P3H1 Expression

With the obvious connection between P3H1 expression and immune infiltration levels, a pan-cancer investigation of this association using the TIMER2.0 database revealed a positive association of P3H1 expression with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and macrophages (MMCs) in most malignancies (Fig. 8A), suggesting the role of these infiltrating immune cells in cancer progression. P3H1 expression in pan-cancerous tis- sues was positively connected with the quantity of infiltrating immune cells, especially CAFs and MMCs.

Fig. 7 TME analysis. A Correlation of the expression of P3H1 with the pathway scores of 33 cancers heat- map. B A heat map showing the association between P3H1 expression and the stromal score, estimate score, immune score, and tumor purity that make up the TME

A

EMT2

Pan_F_TBRs

EMT3

Base_excision_repair


DNA_replication



correlation

0.75

DNA_damage_response

.***

..

0.50

0.25

Mismatch_Repair


0.00

-0.25

Nucleotide_excision_repair



-0.50

Immune_Checkpoint



Antigen_processing_machinery



CD_8_T_effector


EMT1



OV

UVM

PAAD

LGG

ACC

GBM

KIRC

KICH

COAD

LIHC

READ

BLCA

ESCA

MESO

LUAD

KIRP

THCA

STAD

UCEC

SKCM

HNSC

LAML

LUSC

BRCA

CESC

CHOL

TGCT

PCPG

DLBC

PRAD

UCS

SARC

THYM

B

StromalScore

correlation

ESTIMATEScore


**

0.4

ImmuneScore



:


**

0.0

TumorPurity

:

**

-0.4

READ

UVM

COAD

PCPG

BLCA

KICH

ESCA

PAAD

BRCA

LGG

HNSC

DLBC

KIRC

SARC

STAD

MESO

OV

UCS

THCA

GBM

CESC

THYM

LUSC

TGCT

UCEC

KIRP

PRAD

CHOL

LUAD

LIHC

SKCM

ACC

LAML

MHC, immunological activation genes, immune suppression genes, chemokines, and chemokine receptors, as well as the relationship between P3H1 expression and these genes were also studied. In most tumor types, P3H1 was positively linked with a large group of immune-related genes (Figs. 9A-E).

Correlation Analysis of P3H1 Expression in Different Tumors with TMB, MSI and MMR

We assessed the relation of P3H1 expression levels with TMB, MSI, and MMR (includ- ing MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and EPCAM). Immune checkpoint inhibitor sensitivity is significantly correlated with all three above-mentioned factors. Figure 10A depicts the correlation of P3H1 expression with TMB in six cancers, ACC, COAD, KIRC, LUAD, HNSC, and LAML. P3H1 expression was associated with MSI in the remaining four can- cers: TGCT, THCA, LGG, and STAD (Fig. 10B). In the majority of tumors, the MMR gene expression was significantly and strongly correlated with P3H1 expression, excluding CHOL, uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS), and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBC). Most

Fig. 8 Immune infiltration analysis. (A) TIMER2.0 database that shows the relation of the P3H1 transcript with each type of immune cell in 33 cancers. Red boxes show a positive correlation and green boxes show a negative correlation (p>0.05)

A

B_cell_memory_CIBERSORT

B_cell_memory_CIBERSORT_ABS

B_cell memory XCELL

_ B cell naive_CIBERSORT

B_cell naive_CIBERSORT_ABS

B_cell plasma_CIBERSORT

B_cell_plasma_CIBERSORT_ABS

Class_switched_memory_B_cell_XCELL

Cancer_associated fibroblast EPIC

Cancer associated fibroblast MCPCOUNTER

Cancer_associated_fibroblast_XCELL

_cell_CD4_central_memory_XCELL cell_CD4_effector_memory_XCELL

_cell_CD4_memory_activated_CIBERSORT T_cell_CD4_memory_activated CIBERSORT_ABS

_cell_CD4_memory_resting_CIBERSORT

T_cell_CD4_memory_resting_CIBERSORT_ABS

Myeloid_dendritic_cell activated_CIBERSORT Myeloid_dendritic_cell activated CIBERSORT_ABS

B cell MCPCOUNTER

B cell plasma XCELL

cell CD4 memory XCELL

T cell_CD4_naive_CIBERSORT

cell CD4_naive_CIBERSORT_ABS

cell_CD4_naive_XCELL

T_cell_CD4_non_regulatory_QUANTISEQ

_cell_CD4_non_regulatory_XCELL

T cell_CD4 Th1_XCELL

cell_CD4_Th2_XCELL

T_cell_CD8_central memory_XCELL

cell_CD8_CIBERSORT

T cell_CD8_CIBERSORT_ABS

cell_CD8_effector_memory_XCELL

cell CD8 MCPCOUNTER

T_cell_CD8 naive XCELL

T_cell_CD8 QUANTISEQ

Myeloid_dendritic_cell_activated XCELL

Myeloid_dendritic_cell_MCPCOUNTER

Myeloid_dendritic_cell_QUANTISEO

Myeloid_dendritic_cell_resting_CIBERSORT

Myeloid_dendritic_cell resting_CIBERSORT_ABS

B_cell_naive_XCELL

B cell QUANTISEQ

T cell_CD8 EPIC

I_cell_CD8 TIMER

Myeloid_dendritic_cell TIMER

Myeloid_dendritic_cell_XCELL

Plasmacytoid_dendritic_cell_XCELL

cell_CD4_EPIC

_cell_CD4_TIMER

_cell_CD8_XCELL

Endothelial cell EPIC

Endothelial_cell MCPCOUNTER Endothelial_cell_XCELL

Eosinophil CIBERSORT_ABS

B cell EPIC

B_cell XCELL

Eosinophil CIBERSORT

cell_gamma_delta_CIBERSORT_ABS _cell_gamma_delta_XCELL

Eosinophil_XCELL

cell gamma delta_CIBERSORT

. B_cell_TIMER

UVM

-

8

XIX

X

X

X

IX

UCS

X

×

IXI

X

XI

X

X

X

54

XI

XIX

X

D

X

X

KIXIX

XIXI

UCEC XI

X

XIX

THYM

CIXIX

X

KIXIX

X

X

3

X

THCA

X

TGCT

×

X

X

×

4

X

EK

STAD .

X

X

X

X

SKCM

X

X

SARC

XIX

X

X

*

X

X

READ

X

XI

X

XIX

X

IX

X

X

PRAD

X

IX

PCPG

X

X

3

X

XIXI

X

PAAD

XIXIX

IXIXI

XIX

S

X

(XIXIXIXI

OV -

KIX

X

EXIXI

MESO

XIX

XIXIXIX

X

X

XIXI

X

E

X

LUSC -

2

X

4

LUAD -

X

LIHC

X

LGG

KIRP

KIRC .

KICH

XIX

X

X

XIX

X

X

X

XX

EX

HNSC.

38

GBM

X

XIXIX

IXIXIX

I

KI

ESCA-

ZIXIXE

D

M

XX

DLBC

XIXIXI

X

XI

X

X

[X]

X

X D

X

X

XIX

X

KIXIX

COAD

X

X

CHOL

.

X

XIXIX

> X

XXX XIX

IX

X

XIX

X

CESC

BRCA -

BLCA -

XS

X

X

ACC

X

[X] X

[X]

KIX

X

XXXXX

XXL

X

XXIX

UVM

XI

X

X

L

X

X

X

X

K

X

x

X

X

UCS

X

XIX

X

8

X

× X

X

X

X

X

X

UCEC

x

X

X

THYM

X

X

X

THCA

%

TGCT

X

x

X

8

Z

X

STAD

SKCM-

X

SARC

X

X

correlation

READ

X

X

X

X

×

K

X

X

0.4

PRAD

PCPG .

X

X

X

IX

X

0.2

PAAD

X

K

XIX

OV-

X

X

X

X

0.0

MESO X

X

XI

X

X

X X

1

X

X

X

X

3

X

X

X

3

XIX

LUSC -

X

-0.2

LUAD -

LIHC

-0.4

LGG

KIRP

X

E

X

KIRC

X

pvalue

KICH

X

X

X

K

X

K

X

R

X

X

X

×

HNSC -

X

p<0.05

GBM-

X

X

X

X

ESCA-

8 p≥0.05

X

DLBC

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

A

X

X

X

X

X

COAD

CHOL

X

X

X

[2

X

X

X

4

X

X

X

14

4

XX

XIX

X

X JE

X

CESC

y

X

BRCA

BLCA

ACC SZ

Z

X

M

%

X

1

X

X

Hematopoietic_stem_cell_XCELL

Macrophage_EPIC

Macrophage_MO_CIBERSORT.

Macrophage_MO_CIBERSORT_ABS

Macrophage_M1_CIBERSORT,

Macrophage_M1_CIBERSORT_ABS.

Macrophage_M1_QUANTISEQ.

Macrophage_M1_XCELL.

Macrophage_M2_CIBERSORT _

Macrophage_M2_CIBERSORT_ABS.

Macrophage_M2_QUANTISEQ.

Macrophage_M2_XCELL

Macrophage_Monocyte_MCPCOUNTER

Macrophage_TIMER

Macrophage_XCELL

Mast_cell_activated_CIBERSORT

Mast_cell_activated_CIBERSORT_ABS.

Mast_cell_resting_CIBERSORT

Mast_cell_resting_CIBERSORT_ABS.

Mast_cell_XCELL

Macrophage_Monocyte_MCPCOUNTER

Monocyte_CIBERSORT

Monocyte_CIBERSORT_ABS

Monocyte_MCPCOUNTER

Monocyte_QUANTISEQ.

Monocyte_XCELL

Neutrophil_CIBERSORT

Neutrophil_CIBERSORT_ABS

Neutrophil_MCPCOUNTER

Neutrophil_QUANTISEQ.

Neutrophil_TIMER.

Neutrophil_XCELL

NK_cell_activated_CIBERSORT

NK_cell_activated_CIBERSORT_ABS.

NK_cell_EPIC

NK_cell_MCPCOUNTER

NK_cell_QUANTISEQ.

NK_cell_resting_CIBERSORT

NK_cell_resting_CIBERSORT_ABS.

NK_cell_XCELL

T_cell_NK_XCELL

Common_lymphoid_progenitor_XCELL

Common_myeloid_progenitor_XCELL

Granulocyte_monocyte_progenitor_XCELL.

T_cell_follicular_helper_CIBERSORT

T_cell_follicular_helper_CIBERSORT_ABS,

T_cell_regulatory_Tregs_CIBERSORT

T_cell_regulatory_Tregs_CIBERSORT_ABS

T_cell_regulatory_Tregs_QUANTISEQ.

T_cell_regulatory_Tregs_XCELL

Fig. 9 P3H1-immune gene coexpression. Heat maps showing (A) P3H1-MHC gene association, (B) P3H1-immune activation gene association, (C) P3H1 immunosuppressive gene association, (D) P3H1- chemokine association, and (E) P3H1-chemokine receptor association. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001

A

B

TAPBP

-

HLA-A

CD276

TAP2

TNFRSF4

HLA-B

STING1

HLA-DPB1

TNFRSF8

HLA-C

TNFSF4

HLA-E

TNFRSF18

HLA-F

correlation

CXCR4

HLA-DMB

-

0.6

CD70

HLA-DMA

0.4

TNFRSF25

TAP1

NT5E

0.2

HLA-DQB1

ENTPD1

0.0

HLA-DRB1

CXCL12

HLA-G

-0.2

ULBP1

-0.4

CD40

HLA-DOA

PVR

HLA-DQA1

TNFSF9

HLA-DRA

IL2RA

HLA-DQA2

MICB

HLA-DPA1

IL6

HLA-DOB

TNFRSF14

B2M

-

TNFRSF9

correlation

UVM

COAD

LGG

PAAD

OV

BLCA

READ

BRCA

UCEC

PRAD

KICH

ESCA

PCPG

LIHC

HNSC

KIRC

STAD

DLBC

GBM

KIRP

LAML

LUAD

SARC

LUSC

CESC

UCS

CHOL

MESO

THCA

ACC

SKCM

TGCT

THYM

CD86

0.75

LTA

0.50

CD80

0.25

ICOSLG

0.00

CD28

-0.25

TNFSF138

-0.50

CD27

VSIR

ICOS

CD48

TNFRSF13C

TNFSF14

C

KLRK1

TGFB1

TNFSF13

NECTIN2

TNFSF15

IL 10RB

TMIGD2

ADORA2A

CD40LG

CSF1R

TNFRSF13B

KLRC1

TGFBR1

TNFSF18

LAG3

BTNL2

HAVCR2

TNFRSF17

PDCD1

IL6R

PDCD1LG2

correlation

RAET1E

-

HHLA2

-

.

KDR

0.50

UVM

OV

COAD

PAAD

READ

KICH

BLCA

KIRC

STAD

LIHC

ESCA

LGG

GBM

BRCA

KIRP

THCA

PCPG

LUSC

HNSC

LUAD

ACC

UCEC

LAML

SARC DLBC

CESC

UCS

SKCM

PRAD

MESO

CHOL

TGCT

THYM

IL10

LGALS9

0.25

CTLA4

0.00

CD96

-0.25

IDO1

D

TIGIT

CL26

CD244

CCL2

VTCN1

CXCL 12

BTLA

CCL11

KIR2DL3

CCL13

CD274

CCL3

KIR2DL1

CXCL3

CD160

-

.

.

CXCL8

UVM

COAD

OV

READ

PAAD

LGG

BLCA

KICH

STAD

KIRC

GBM

LIHC

ESCA

BRCA

KIRP

PCPG

ACC

HNSC

UCEC

LUAD THCA

SARC

LUSC

LAML

PRAD

CESC

MESO

DLBC

CHOL

UCS

SKCM

TGCT

THYM

CXCL5

CCL7

CCL8

CXCL1

CXCL6

CCL18

CCL5

CCL23

CXCL 16

CCL27

correlation

C

CR10

CCL21

CX3CL

0.50

CXCR4

CXCL2

0.25

CXCR5

CCL14

0.00

CCR1

CCL4

-0.25

CXCR3

CCL22

-0.50

CCR5

XCL1

CXCR1

correlation

CXCL 14

CCR3

0.6

CXCL13

CCR2

0.4

CCL 17

CCR8

0.2

CCL20

CCR7

0.0

CXCL 10

-0.2

XCL2

CCR4

-0.4

CXCL9

CXCR6

CXCL 11

CXCR2

CCL25

XCR1

CCL24

CX3CR1

-

CCL19

CCR6

CCL 16

CCR9

.

-

.

-

CCL1

UVM

COAD

READ

OV

PAAD

KICH BLCA

LGG

STAD

KIRC

LIHC

KIRP

GBM

BRCA

THCA

ESCA

LUSC

PCPG

HNSC

UCEC

DLBC

CHOL

LUAD

LAML

CESC

UCS

TGCT

PRAD

SARC

SKCM

ACC

MESO

THYM

CCL28

CCL15

CXCL 17

-

UVM

COAD

OV

BLCA

READ

PAAD

KICH

KIRC

BRCA

GBM

STAD

ESCA

DLBC

LIHC

TGCT

KIRP

PCPG

THCA

LUSC

HNSC

LUAD

SARC

LGG

ACC

PRAD

UCEC

UCS

CESC

SKCM

MESO

CHOL

LAML

THYM

Fig. 10 Correlation between P3H1 expression and TMB, MSI, and MMR. Heat maps showing (A) the correlation between P3H1 and TMB, (B) the correlation between P3H1 and MSI, And (C) the correlation between P3H1 and MMR genes. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001

A

B

TMB

MSI

UCS

LAML ** DLBC

ACC*

KICH

PAAD

STAD. CHOL DLBC

TGCT*

CHOL

0.4

READ

THYM

0.3

READ

PCPG

0.2

COAD*

ESCA

0.15

UVM

THYM

KIRC*

PCPG

THCA*

0

0

HNSC*

LIHC

SKCM

COAD

.2

15

ESCA

-0.4

LUAD*

UCS

-0.3

LGG*

UVM

UCEC

KIRP

GBM

STAD

SARC

LAML

ACC

BLCA

OV

KICH

MESO

SKCM

THCA

OV

SARC

PAAD

LGG

UCEC

HNSC

GBM

PRAD

LIHC

CESC

MESO

CESC BRCA LUSC

TGCT

BRCA

LUAD

KIRP

BLCA

PRAD LUSC

KIRC

C

MSH6




correlation

0.6

MLH1


**

**

0.3

MSH2


**


0.0

PMS2

**

-0.3

EPCAM





OV

ACC

PAAD

GBM

LIHC

LAML

ESCA

UVM

SKCM

STAD

LUAD

CESC

UCEC

KIRP

COAD

READ

BLCA

CHOL

HNSC

KICH

LUSC

LGG

TGCT

THCA

PRAD

UCS

KIRC

MESO

DLBC

SARC

THYM

BRCA

PCPG

of these cancer types, such as MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6, showed a positive correlation with P3H1 (Fig. 10C).

Expression of P3H1 and Sensitivities to Different Drugs

P3H1 expression may be linked to the emergence of treatment resistance; therefore, we searched the GDSC database on the performance of the nine most important anticancer medications in relation to P3H1 expression. Among eight of the nine drugs tested (sapi- tinib, osimertinib, acetalax, afatinib, gefitinib, lapatinib, erlotinib, and AZD3759), P3H1 expression was significantly positively correlated with drug IC50, while in tozasertib, it was significantly negatively correlated (Fig. 11A-I). Thus, P3H1 is a promising candidate for usage as a therapeutic target in human medicine.

Experimental Validation of P3H1 Expression in KIRC

On combining the results of the above-mentioned bioinformatic analyses, we discovered that an increase in P3H1 expression in KIRC is strongly linked to a worse prognosis and an advanced clinicopathological stage. Also for our further in-depth study in the future,

Fig. 11 Correlation of P3H1 with the sensitivity of the top nine anticancer drugs in the GDSC database

A

B

C

Tozasertib, n = 48, r = - 0.35(spearman), p.value= 0.0154

Sapitinib, n = 800, r = 0.31(spearman), p.value= 0

Osimertinib, n = 749, r = 0.28(spearman), p.value= 0

-

6

6

A

=

6

4

IC50 value of Tozasertib

IC50 value of Sapitinib

IC50 value of Osimertinib

4

3

2

0

0

-2

0

11

1

1

Y

I

1

-3

IL

4

5

&

P3H1 expression

7

8

4

P3H1 expression

6

8

10

-4

4

6

8

P3H1 expression

10

D

E

F

Acetalax, n = 726, r = 0.28(spearman), p.value= 0

Afatinib, n = 801, r = 0.28(spearman), p.value= 0

Gefitinib, n = 749, r = 0.27(spearman), p.value= 0

9

7.5

=

6

5.0

5.0

IC50 value of Acetalax

IC50 value of Afatinib

IC50 value of Gefitinib

2.5

3

2.5

0.0

~

0

0.0

-2.5

=

=

-3

-5.0

=

-2.5

11

4

P3H1 expression

6

8

10

4

P3H1 expression

6

8

10

4

P3H1 expression

6

8

10

G

H

Lapatinib, n = 754, r = 0.23(spearman), p.value= 0

Erlotinib, n = 749, r = 0.22(spearman), p.value= 0

AZD3759, n = 757, r = 0.22(spearman), p.value= 0

5.0

2

= M

.

5.0

6

IC50 value of Lapatinib

IC50 value of Erlotinib

IC50 value of AZD3759

2.5

2.5

0.0

0.0

0

U

=

P

-2.5

-2.5

III

4

P3H1 expression

6

8

10

4

P3H1 expression

6

8

10

4

P3H1 expression

6

8

10

we experimentally validated the expression of P3H1 mRNA and protein in normal human kidney cells and different human kidney cancer cell lines. Consistent with our bioinformat- ics analysis, we found at the mRNA as well as protein levels, P3H1 expression was signifi- cantly upregulated in human renal cancer cell lines Caki-1, OS-RC-2, 786-O, and 769-P, compared to normal human kidney cells HK-2 (Fig. 12A-B).

Discussion

Cancer is the second deadliest disease after cardiovascular disease; hence, early detection and treatment are crucial to improving survival rates [27]. Bioinformatics-based pan-can- cer analysis provides a significant theoretical basis for the prevention and tailored treatment of, which has been possible because of the fast growth of bioinformatics techniques [28]. Mutations in P3H1 are closely associated with osteogenesis imperfecta, a human genetic disease, the underlying cause of which is mainly related to alterations in collagen [29, 30]. Researchers found that in patients with lupus nephritis, serum P3H1 could serve as a

Fig. 12 P3H1 mRNA and protein expression in normal human kidney cells and different human kidney cancer cell lines. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001

A

B


Relative expression of ?3H1



15


Caki-1

OS-RC-2

786-0

10

HK-2

769-P

5

P3H1

Actin

0

HK-2

Caki-1

OS-RC-2

786-O

769-P

biomarker [31]. Most studies on P3H1 are currently in the non-oncology field, and research on the pathogenic role of P3H1 in tumors is considerably lacking. A meta-analysis of genome-wide and proteomic data based on algorithms identified P3H1 as a potential bio- marker for colorectal cancer [32]. In another study, P3H1 in patients was associated with the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and breast cancer [33]. Zhang Yin et al. showed that the typical features of the intraepithelial neoplasia- (HIN-) adenocarcinoma sequence are associated with extracellular matrix-related biological processes. They suggested that P3H1 may be the key protein of this sequence and is associated with extracellular matrix remodeling and immunosuppressive state in colorectal cancer remodeling [34].

This was the first full study to show the level of P3H1 expression in pan-cancer. Among the 18 tumor types, ACC, BLCA, BRCA, CHOL, DLBC, ESCA, GBM, HNSC, KIRC, KIRP, LGG, LIHC, PAAD, SARC, SKCM, STAD, THYM, and UCS exhibited signifi- cantly raised P3H1 expression. According to the TCGA database, P3H1 is expressed to different degrees in all cancer types. The highest amount of P3H1 expression was noted in SARC, while KICH has the lowest. P3H1 is also expressed in many normal human tissues, with the highest levels being in the pituitary, nerves, and testes, in that order. Nonetheless, its expression in most other normal human tissues was low. The CCLE results showed that the amount of P3H1 expression was usually higher in tumor cell lines than in normal tis- sues. Also, the P3H1 expression was higher in some types of cancer than in normal cells. According to the TCGA database, certain cancers at advanced stages, regardless of TNM staging, exhibit elevated P3HI expression; these tumor types include ACC, BLCA, COAD, ESCA, KIRC, LIHC, MESO, STAD, and THCA. These findings suggest that P3H1 may function as an oncogene in most tumors. Cox analysis and Kaplan-Meier plots used in this study visualized OS-related prognosis in a pan-cancer analysis and revealed the association of P3H1 expression with an inferior prognosis in a variety of tumor types. According to these results, P3H1 can be used as a prognostic biomarker for certain types of malignan- cies; however, additional studies and more precise data are required. In the genetic altera- tion analysis, we observed a positive correlation of P3H1 gene expression with copy num- ber and negatively correlated with methylation levels, consistent with the previous finding of upregulated mRNA expression. In recent years, the relationship between DNA meth- ylation and tumors is well elucidated. The expression of oncogenes is suppressed by DNA

methylation [35]. In another report, the expression of miRNAs was regulated through DNA methylation [36]. Therefore, the relationship between P3H1 expression and DNA meth- ylation should be investigated in greater depth. Our GSEA enrichment analysis revealed that P3H1 expression in nine malignancies was associated with either cell cycle regula- tion or immune regulation. These nine tumor types include ACC, BRCA, COAD, ESCA, KIRC, LGG, LIHC, OV, and PAAD, which involve cell cycle-related pathways like cell cycle, mitosis, M-phase, etc., and immune regulatory pathways like innate immune sys- tem, cytokine signaling in the immune system, adaptive immune system, and many others. According to these findings, P3H1 possibly regulates the cell cycle and immune response in a complex manner. Tumor cells reside in the extracellular matrix, soluble molecules, and tumor stromal cells that make up the TME [37]. In TME, non-tumor components such as immune cells and stromal cells have been proposed to be useful for the diagnosis and prog- nosis of tumors [38]. The ESTIMATE algorithm can be used to quantify tumor immune and stromal scores by calculating the immune score. Immune and stromal scores are com- puted using this algorithm by analyzing specific gene expression profiles of immune cells and stroma cells to predict the level of non-tumor cell infiltration [39]. Except for LAML, P3H1 expression was positively linked with stromal score and ESTIMATE score. Further- more, except for TGCT, SKCM, and LAML, P3H1 expression was substantially positively linked with immune scores in other cancers. Finally, P3H1 expression was shown to be inversely associated to tumor purity in the vast majority of tumor types, with the exception of LAML. The correlation between P3H1 expression and immunological infiltration was investigated by employing the TIMER2.0 database. In pan-cancerous tissues, P3H1 expres- sion was positively connected with the quantity of invading immune cells, especially CAFs and MMCs. MHC, immune activation genes, immune suppression genes, chemokines, and chemokine receptors were also studied, in addition to the relationship between P3H1 expression and these genes. These results showed a favorable correlation between P3H1 expression and the expression of genes related to immunity in a wide variety of tumor types. Tumor immunotherapy is a new generation of tumor treatment that has rapidly developed in recent years and holds great promise for clinical application. Currently, the main clinically used tumor immunotherapies include immune checkpoint inhibitors, peri- patetic cellular immunotherapy, and cancer vaccines [40]. We therefore examined any potential correlation of P3H1 expression with TMB, MSI, and MMR (including MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and EPCAM); immune checkpoint inhibitor sensitivity is substan- tially correlated with all three. P3H1 expression was observed to correlate with TMB in six tumor types, including ACC, COAD, KIRC, LUAD, HNSC, and LAML. In addition, in the remaining four tumors, TGCT, THCA, LGG, and STAD, P3H1 expression was associ- ated with MSI. MMR gene expression was significantly and strongly correlated with P3H1 expression levels in the majority of tumors, excluding CHOL, UCS, and DLBC; the major- ity of these cancer types revealed a positive correlation of MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6 with P3H1. Finally, drug sensitivity analysis suggested that P3H1 may act as a potential anti- cancer target. Based on the above findings, we may hypothesize that P3H1 expression is strongly linked to immune infiltration of tumor cells and, therefore, represents a novel tar- get for the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Finally, for in vitro experimen- tal validation, we selected P3H1 expression in human kidney cancer cell lines; the results were consistent with our bioinformatics analysis. Although we integrated data from multi- ple databases as much as possible, our study still has certain limitations. For example, due to the current experimental conditions, we could not further validate our specific results through specific in vivo experiments.

Conclusions

In conclusion, our analysis indicates that P3H1 can be used as a prognostic biomarker for a variety of tumors, and its elevated expression is associated with unfavorable prognoses for the majority of these cancers. P3H1 expression is also closely associated with immune cell infiltration and immune-related genes. By elucidating the function of P3H1 in tumor development, future precision cancer therapies, and personalized immunotherapies need to be developed.

Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi. org/10.1007/s12010-023-04845-8.

Acknowledgements We acknowledge the TCGA, GTEx, CCLE, TIMER2.0, cBioPortal, and GDSC data- bases for free use.

Author Contributions Conceptualization, Yongjie Li; Formal analysis, Yongjie Li and Ting Wang; Software analyses, Ting Wang; Visualization, Feng Jiang; Writing - original draft, Yongjie Li; Writing - review & editing, Yongjie Li.

Funding Not applicable.

Data Availability The data sets used in this research are publicly available online.

Declarations

Ethics Statement All the experiments were conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of Shaoyang University.

Consent for Publication Not applicable.

Conflict of Interest The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

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