Development and validation of a prognostic model of hepatocellular carcinoma based on single-cell RNA sequencing data of immune cells
SU Miao
ZHAO Chunhua
MIAO Chun
Abstract：Objective To screen out biomarkers of tumor progression by analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing(scRNA-seq)data of immune cells from tumor microenvironment(TME),and to create a prognostic model of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)based on scRNA-seq of immune-related genes(IRGs).Methods The scRNA-seq data of immune cells of HCC were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)and analyzed to obtain differentially expressed genes(DEGs).Immune-related DEGs were further screened.The transcriptome data and clinical data of HCC patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)database.Immune-related prognostic genes were screened from immune-related DEGs by univariate and multivariate Cox regression and Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(Lasso)regression analyses.A prognostic model was then created.The correlation of immune-related prognostic genes with clinical risk factors and immune cell infiltration in HCC was analyzed.Functional enrichment analysis was finally performed.Results Single-cell expression data of 1,506 HCC immune cells were downloaded.A total of 385 DEGs were obtained,involving 67 immune-related DEGs.Expression data and clinical data of 367 HCC patients were downloaded,and 3 immune-related prognostic genes were screened out.Immune-related prognostic genes were correlated with multiple clinical features,showing stronger predictive capabilities independent of other clinical risk factors.Immune-related prognostic genes were closely correlated with immune cell infiltration.Functional enrichment analysis showed that three immune-related prognostic genes were involved in multiple immune mechanisms of HCC.Conclusion The prognostic model of HCC created based on scRNA of immune cells has high accuracy,which not only reflects the immune status of the TME,but also provides new markers for predicting the prognosis.
Keywords：hepatocellular carcinomasingle-cell RNA sequencingtumor microenvironmentimmune-related genesprognosis
Publication Date：2025-10-26
Online Publishing Date：2025-11-19(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 1622-1627 )