Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1460915
This article is part of the Research Topic Mastering the Dynamics of Tumor Plasticity: Epigenetic Regulation, Cell Fate, and Microenvironment Interactions View all 4 articles

Comprehensive analysis of Stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase in prostate adenocarcinoma: Insights into gene expression, immune microenvironment and tumor progression

Provisionally accepted
Jie Wang Jie Wang 1Liang Ying Liang Ying 1He Xiong He Xiong 1Duan-Rui Zhou Duan-Rui Zhou 1Yi-Xuan Wang Yi-Xuan Wang 1Hui-Lian Che Hui-Lian Che 1Zhangfeng Zhong Zhangfeng Zhong 2GUOSHENG WU GUOSHENG WU 1Yunjun Ge Yunjun Ge 1*
  • 1 Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
  • 2 Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) is a prevalent global malignancy which depends more on lipid metabolism for tumor progression compared to other cancer types. Although Stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase (SCD) is documented to regulate lipid metabolism in multiple cancers, landscape analysis of its implications in PRAD are still missing at present. Here, we conducted an analysis of diverse cancer datasets revealing elevated SCD expression in the PRAD cohort at both mRNA and protein levels. Interestingly, the elevated expression was associated with SCD promoter hypermethylation and genetic alterations, notably the L134V mutation. Integration of comprehensive tumor immunological and genomic data revealed a robust positive correlation between SCD expression levels and the abundance of CD8+ T cells and macrophages. Further analyses identified significant associations between SCD expression and various immune markers in tumor microenvironment. Single-cell transcriptomic profiling unveiled differential SCD expression patterns across distinct cell types within the prostate tumor microenvironment. The Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome analyses showed that SCD enriched pathways were primarily related to lipid biosynthesis, cholesterol biosynthesis, endoplasmic reticulum membrane functions, and various metabolic pathways. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis highlighted the involvement of elevated SCD expression in crucial cellular processes, including the cell cycle and biosynthesis of cofactors pathways. In functional studies, SCD overexpression promoted the proliferation, metastasis and invasion of prostate cancer cells, whereas downregulation inhibits these processes. This study provides comprehensive insights into the multifaceted roles of SCD in PRAD pathogenesis, underscoring its potential as both a therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker.

    Keywords: stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase, Prostate adenocarcinoma, Gene Expression, immune microenvironment, Functional enrichment analysis, tumor progression

    Received: 07 Jul 2024; Accepted: 28 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Ying, Xiong, Zhou, Wang, Che, Zhong, WU and Ge. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yunjun Ge, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.