m6A-Related Angiogenic Genes to Construct Prognostic Signature, Reveal Immune and Oxidative Stress Landscape, and Screen Drugs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Background. m6A modification plays a key role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Angiogenesis-related genes (ARGs) are increasingly being used to define signatures predicting patient prognosis. The correlations between m6A-related ARGs (mARGs), clinical outcomes, and the immune and oxidative stress landscape are unclear. Methods. Univariate Cox regression analysis of 24 mARGs yielded 13 prognostic genes, which were then analyzed for their enriched functions and pathways. After LASSO regression analysis, a prognostic signature was constructed and its reliability validated. Patients were grouped by risk using the signature score, and then the clinical prognosis, the immune landscape, and the oxidative stress landscape between the two groups were analyzed. Drug sensitivity analysis was performed to identify potentially efficient therapeutic agents. Results. Thirteen prognosis-related mARGs consistently clustered patients with HCC into four groups with significantly different prognosis. Four mARGs (EGF, ITGA5, ITGAV, and PLG) were used to construct a prognostic signature and define risk groups. Among them, EGF, ITGA5, and ITGAV, were defined as prognostic risk factors, while PLG was defined as a prognostic protective factor. Compared to low-risk patients, HCC patients in the high-risk group had a poorer prognosis and showed significant differences in clinical characteristics, enriched pathways, tumor stemness, and tumor microenvironment. The drug sensitivity of oxaliplatin and LDK-378 negatively correlated with ITGAV expression. Ten drugs had lower IC50s in the high-risk group, indicating better antitumor efficacy than in the low-risk group, with epothilone B having the lowest IC50 value. Conclusions. A prognostic model consisting of mARGs can be used to predict the prognosis of HCC patients. The risk grouping of our model can be used to reveal differences in the tumor immune microenvironment of patients with HCC. Further in-depth study may provide new targets for future treatment.