Integrated analysis of single-cell and bulk transcriptome identifies a signature based on NK cell marker genes to predict prognosis and therapeutic response in clear cell renal cell carcinoma
Ke Wang, M. Y. Yu, Zhouzhou Zhang, Rong Yin, Qifeng Chen, Xuezhi Zhao, Hongqi Yu
Abstract
Background: Accumulating evidence has highlighted the effects of natural killer (NK) cells on shaping anti-tumor immunity. This study aimed to construct an NK cell marker gene signature (NKMS) to predict prognosis and therapeutic response of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients. Methods: Publicly available single-cell and bulk RNA profiles with matched clinical information of ccRCC patients were collected from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), ArrayExpress, and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases. A novel NKMS was constructed, and its prognostic value, associated immunogenomic features and predictive capability to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and anti-angiogenic therapies were evaluated in ccRCC patients. Results: T cells, regulatory T (Treg) cells and follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, in parallel with higher expression of genes negatively regulating anti-tumor immunity. Moreover, high-risk tumors exhibited higher richness and diversity of T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. In two therapy cohorts of ccRCC patients (PMID32472114 and E-MTAB-3267), we demonstrated that high-risk group showed greater sensitivity to ICIs, whereas the low-risk group was more likely to benefit from anti-angiogenic therapy. Conclusions: We identified a novel signature that can be utilized as an independent predictive biomarker and a tool for selecting the individualized treatment for ccRCC patients.