AUTHOR=Jin Lu , Chen Ting , Sun Huan , Dai Guangcheng , Yao Qiu , Yuan Feng , Liu Xiaolong , Xue Boxin 

TITLE=The clinical significance and anti-tumor role of PRKG1 in bladder cancer

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1442555

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2024.1442555

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=cGMP-dependent protein kinase 1 (PRKG1) has shown to be associated with some tumorigenesis, while the role of PRKG1 in bladder cancer is unclear. To investigate the biological and clinical significance of PRKG1 in bladder cancer, we detected expression of PRKG1 and explored the function of PRKG1 in bladder cancer cells. The PRKG1 transcripts data was downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemistry staining was conducted on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) sample tissues. Relationship between clinical characteristics of patients and expression of PRKG1 was analyzed in FFPE samples, TCGA database and GSE19423 dataset. PRKG1 was over-expressed and cell proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis and spheroidizing ability were then detected. Chemosensitivity to cisplatin was detected with cell viability and half-maximal drug inhibitory concentration (IC50) was calculated. In addition, the relation between PRKG1 expression and infiltration level of tumor immune cells in tumor microenvironment were analyzed.The results showed expression of PRKG1 was lower in bladder cancer, compared with normal tissues both at protein and transcripts level. Lower PRKG1 expression was related to higher tumor grade, T stage and muscle invasion, also predicted worse overall survival and recurrence free survival in patients treated with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) intravesical immunotherapy. Analysis of tumor immune cells infiltration showed lower PRKG1 was associated with non-inflamed tumor microenvironment.The present study firstly identified the anti-tumor role and tumor immune regulatory of PRKG1, also found loss of PRKG1 could be used as a prognosis factor. The present study provided a potential biomarker and therapy target to bladder cancer.