HAUS1 is a prognostic biomarker and correlates with immune infiltrates in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Abstract Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has become fatal and aggressive cancer worldwide. It was found that HAUS1 protein was involved in the completeness of the wire, the spindle component and the completion of the cytoplastic split process during the rotor splitting process. However, HAUS1 potential value, including its level in HCC, relationship with clinical outcome and immune infiltration are not wellknown. Methods:TIMER2.0 database was used for analyzing Pan-cancer, and differences in the expression of HAUS1 were found. The prognostic significance of HAUS1 in HCC was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier Plotter. We also investigated clinical indicators differences between the low and high HAUS1 groups. Signaling pathways associated with HAUS1 were explored by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). And immune cell infiltration was assessed using the CIBERSORT algorithm and the ESTIMATE method. Proliferative changes in HCC cells after knockdown of HAUS1 were assessed with CCK8 array and colony formation assays. Results: The results showed that HAUS1 was significantly high expressed in most malignant tumors, and there were significant correlations between HAUS1 and overall survival and progression free survival in HCC. The signal pathways related to E2F targets, DNA repair, myc targets, mitotic spindle and G2M checkpoint were enriched in high HAUS1 group. What’s more, HAUS1 was shown to be related with immune cell infiltration level in the HCC. However, the proliferation of HCC cells was significantly decreased after transfection with HAUS1 specific small interfering RNA. Conclusion: HAUS1 is a positive regulator of HCC progression and contributes to tumor cell proliferation. In addition, HAUS1 expression is related to the level of immune cells infiltration in HCC. Therefore, HAUS1 may be a novel prognostic marker and therapeutic target for HCC patients.