PAQR3在肝细胞癌中的表达及其与T淋巴细胞免疫浸润、免疫检查点基因及患者生存期关系的生物信息学分析

doi:10.13481/j.1671-587X.20260320

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective To discuss the expression of progestin and adipoQ receptor 3 （PAQR3） in hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） and its association with immune infiltration， immunotherapy response， and patient survival， and to clarify its role in the HCC immune microenvironment and its clinical significance. Methods The HCC tissue and adjacent tissue samples were collected from 3 cases of HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy in General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from January to December 2023. Western blotting method and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect the expression level of PAQR3 protein in HCC tissue and adjacent tissue of each HCC patient. The gene expression and clinical data of HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy were collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas （TCGA） database. Various algorithms such as CIBERSORT and TIMER2.0 were used to analyze the correlation between PAQR3 expression and immune cell infiltration； Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between PAQR3 expression level and the expression levels of immune checkpoint genes ［programmed cell death protein 1 （PDCD1）， cluster of differentiation 274 （CD274）， and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte?associated protein 4 （CTLA4）］； Cox proportional hazards regression model and Kaplan-Meier method were used to analyze the relationship between PAQR3 protein expression and patient survival. Results The Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining results showed that compared with adjacent tissue， the expression level of PAQR3 protein in HCC tissue was significantly increased （P<0.05）. The TCGA database analysis results showed that compared with adjacent tissue， the expression of PAQR3 gene in HCC tissue was up?regulated （P<0.05）. The correlation analysis results showed that PAQR3 expression level was positively correlated with regulatory T cells （Tregs）（rho=0.349， P<0.001）， CD8⁺ T lymphocytes （rho=0.268， P<0.001）， M2 macrophages （rho=0.435， P<0.001）， and neutrophils （rho=0.399， P<0.001） in HCC tissue. High expression of PAQR3 protein was associated with shortened overall survival of HCC patients （P=0.019）， while immune infiltration was not associated with the survival of HCC patients （P>0.05）. The expression of PAQR3 was positively correlated with the expressions of immune checkpoint-related genes PDCD1， CD274， and CTLA4 （P<0.05）. Conclusion The expression of PAQR3 is up-regulated in HCC tissue. Its expression level is associated with the infiltration degree of various immune cells such as T lymphocytes and macrophages， the expression of immune checkpoint genes， and poor prognosis of patients， suggesting that PAQR3 may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for HCC.

Key words: Progestin and adipoQ receptor 3, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Immune cell infiltration, Immune checkpoint genes, Bioinformatics analysis

CLC Number:

R730.2

Xiaohui LIANG,Wenna LIU,Jianbo ZHAO. Bioinformatic analysis on PAQR3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and its correlations with T lymphocyte infiltration, immune checkpoint genes, and patient survival[J].Journal of Jilin University(Medicine Edition), 2026, 52(3): 781-790.

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References 27

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Infiltration	Rho	P	Adj.P
T cell CD4⁺ Th1 XCELL	-0.418	<0.001	<0.001
T cell regulatory (Tregs) QUANTISEQ	0.349	<0.001	<0.001
T cell CD4⁺ memory XCELL	0.265	<0.001	<0.001
T cell CD8⁺ TIMER	0.268	<0.001	<0.001
T cell CD4⁺ EPIC	0.243	<0.001	<0.001
T cell regulatory (Tregs) XCELL	0.234	<0.001	<0.001
T cell CD8⁺ na?ve XCELL	-0.234	<0.001	<0.001
T cell CD4⁺ memory resting CIBERSORT-ABS	0.205	<0.001	0.001
T cell CD4⁺ na?ve XCELL	-0.196	<0.001	0.001
T cell CD4⁺ Th2 XCELL	0.131	0.015	0.039
T cell CD4⁺ na?ve CIBERSORT	-0.130	0.016	0.043
T cell CD4⁺ na?ve CIBERSORT-ABS	-0.129	0.016	0.043
T cell CD4⁺ central memory XCELL	-0.128	0.018	0.045
T cell regulatory (Tregs) CIBERSORT-ABS	0.125	0.021	0.048

Infiltration	Rho	P	Adj.P
Macrophage M2 CIBERSORT-ABS	0.435	<0.001	<0.001
Macrophage M2 TIDE	－0.422	<0.001	<0.001
Macrophage M2 QUANTISEQ	0.345	<0.001	<0.001
Macrophage M1 CIBERSORT-ABS	0.339	<0.001	<0.001
Macrophage EPIC	－0.327	<0.001	<0.001
Macrophage/Monocyte MCPCOUNTER	0.320	<0.001	<0.001
Macrophage/Monocyte MCPCOUNTER	0.320	<0.001	<0.001
Monocyte MCPCOUNTER	0.320	<0.001	<0.001
Macrophage TIMER	0.264	<0.001	<0.001
Macrophage M1 QUANTISEQ	0.246	<0.001	<0.001
Monocyte CIBERSORT	－0.164	0.002	0.015
Macrophage M1 CIBERSORT	0.151	0.005	0.020
Macrophage M2 CIBERSORT	0.145	0.007	0.025

Infiltration	Rho	P	Adj.P
Neutrophil MCPCOUNTER	0.399	<0.001	<0.001
Neutrophil TIMER	0.370	<0.001	<0.001
Neutrophil QUANTISEQ	0.342	<0.001	<0.001
Myeloid dendritic cell TIMER	0.261	<0.001	<0.001
B cell QUANTISEQ	0.262	<0.001	<0.001
Myeloid dendritic cell MCPCOUNTER	0.252	<0.001	<0.001
NK cell activated CIBERSORT-ABS	0.209	<0.001	0.001
NK cell MCPCOUNTER	0.180	0.001	0.005
Neutrophil CIBERSORT-ABS	0.169	0.002	0.006
Plasmacytoid dendritic cell XCELL	-0.157	0.003	0.020
Neutrophil CIBERSORT	0.135	0.012	0.034
B cell EPIC	0.135	0.012	0.049

Bioinformatic analysis on PAQR3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and its correlations with T lymphocyte infiltration, immune checkpoint genes, and patient survival

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