A multidimensional analysis of MRPL17 protein in human tumors

Abstract

Abstract MRPL17 is one of mitochondrial ribosome protein (MRP) family proteins, which have oncogenic effects in several malignant tumors. However, it is unclear that the relationship between MRPL17 expression pattern and prognosis across different cancer types. Also, the biological function or effects on the immune microenvironment of MRPL17 is unknown. In this study, we parsed multiple public databases to explore the potential tumorigenic actions of MRPL17, including correlations with prognosis, microsatellite instability (MSI), tumor mutational burden (TMB), immune checkpoint genes, immune cell infiltration, and immunotherapy response in pan-cancer. Moreover, we validated MRPL17 expression in a tissue microarray by immunohistochemistry. The results showed that MRPL17 was upregulated in 19 cancer types and correlated with poor prognosis in many cancers. The correlation between MRPL17 and TMB was found in 10 cancers as well as MSI in five. The expression level of MRPL17 was found to be notably correlated with immune cell infiltration, showing a negative correlation with CD4 T cells infiltration and a positive correlation with dendritic cells (DC). MRPL17 expression levels were positively associated with drug sensitivity in certain cancers. In addition, we discovered that MRPL17 participated in the DNA repair at the single-cell level for most cancers. These findings provides a promising candidate for therapeutic targets and a new direction for future research.