Comprehensive Landscape of Prognostic Significance and Immune Characteristics of Myosins in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Abstract

Myosin superfamily, a large and diverse family of molecular motors important for cell motility and migration, has been illustrated to play contradictory roles during the development of several kinds of tumors. However, the function and prognostic values of MYOs in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) still remain largely unknown. In the current manuscript, the expression levels and clinical data of MYOs in HNSCC were investigated by online databases, including Oncomine, GEPIA, GEO, TCGA, HPA, UALCAN, Kaplan-Meier plotter, and CancerSEA; we found that the expression levels of MYO1B, MYO5A, and MYO10 were significantly elevated in HNSCC tissues, which were also correlated with the unfavorable overall survival (OS) of the patients. Furthermore, MYO1B/MYO5A/MYO10 interacting genes were identified, and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed by STRING and GeneMANIA. The enrichment analysis revealed that MYO1B/MYO5A/MYO10 associated genes mainly participated in cell metastasis and EMT processes, which were also confirmed by cell functional experiments. At last, the ssGSEA method was conducted to investigate the extent of immune cell infiltration, and we found that both the expression of MYO1B/MYO5A/MYO10 were closely correlated with the infiltration of immune cells in HNSCC. These findings implied that MYO1B, MYO5A, and MYO10 as novel prognostic factors for HNSCC and provided new strategy for HNSCC treatment.