Exploring the immunological role and prognostic potential of PPM1M in pan-cancer

Abstract

Background: PPM1M is a member of the metal-dependent protein phosphatase family, and its role in the immunization process has not been studied in depth. In this study, we investigated the role of PPM1M in pan-cancer. Methods: Samples of cancer and normal tissues were obtained from the cancer genome atlas and genotype-tissue expression. Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox regression were used to analyze the effect of PPM1M on prognosis. Functional and pathway enrichment analyses were performed using the R package “clusterProfiler” to explore the role of PPM1M. The Sanger Box database was used to analyze the relationship between PPM1M and tumor immune checkpoint, tumor mutational burden, and microsatellite instability. The Tumor Immune Estimation Resource 2 database and CIBERSORT method were used to analyze the relationship between PPM1M and tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Finally, the cBioPortal database was used to analyze the genomic variation in PPM1M. Results: Among the variety of tumors, the expression of PPM1M was higher in normal tissues than in cancerous tissues. The expression of PPM1M is closely associated with patient prognosis, tumor immune checkpoint, tumor mutational burden, and microsatellite instability. PPM1M is closely associated with the infiltration of immune cells into the tumor microenvironment. In addition, PPM1M is involved in the regulation of several immune-related pathways. Conclusion: In pan-cancer, PPM1M affects patient prognosis and may be a potential immunological biomarker. Furthermore, PPM1M may be a potential therapeutic target in tumor immunology.