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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1520070
This article is part of the Research Topic Integrating Molecular Mechanisms, Immunotherapy, and Drug Sensitivity in Cancer Immunology and Oncology View all 17 articles

Integrative Analysis of m7G Methylation-Associated Genes Prognostic Signature with Immunotherapy and Identification of LARP1 as a Key Oncogene in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Provisionally accepted
Xu Juan Xu Juan 1Zhongping Zhu Zhongping Zhu 2*Zheng Zhang Zheng Zhang 3*Min Liu Min Liu 3*Panpan Xu Panpan Xu 1*Juanjuan Dong Juanjuan Dong 1*Yuting Huang Yuting Huang 1*Chao Wang Chao Wang 1*Haotian Qin Haotian Qin 3,4*
  • 1 Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Anhui, China
  • 2 Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
  • 3 Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 4 National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Orthopaedic Biomaterials, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China

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

    N7-methylguanosine (m7G) methylation is an RNA modification associated with cancer progression, but its specific role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains unclear.This study analyzed the differential expression of m7G-related genes (m7GRGs) in HNSCC using the TCGA-HNSCC dataset, identifying key pathways associated with the cell cycle, DNA replication, and focal adhesion. A LASSO-Cox regression model was constructed based on four m7GRGs (EIF3D, EIF1, LARP1, and METTL1) and validated with GEO datasets and clinical samples. Further validation of gene upregulation in HNSCC tissues was conducted using RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry, while the role of LARP1 in HNSCC cells was assessed via knockout experiments.The constructed model demonstrated strong predictive performance, with the risk score significantly correlating with prognosis, immune infiltration, and drug sensitivity. An external dataset and clinical specimens further confirmed the model's predictive accuracy for immunotherapy response.Additionally, two regulatory axes-LINC00707/hsa-miR-30b-5p/LARP1 and SNHG16/hsa-miR-30b-5p/LARP1-were identified. LARP1 knockout experiments revealed that suppressing LARP1 markedly inhibited HNSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.The m7GRG-based prognostic model developed in this study holds strong clinical potential for predicting prognosis and therapeutic responses in HNSCC. The identification of LARP1 and its related regulatory pathways offers new avenues for targeted therapy in HNSCC.

    Keywords: N7-Methylguanosine, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Prognostic signature, Immunotherapy response, ceRNA regulatory network, drug sensitivity

    Received: 30 Oct 2024; Accepted: 21 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Juan, Zhu, Zhang, Liu, Xu, Dong, Huang, Wang and Qin. 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:
    Zhongping Zhu, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, Anhui Province, China
    Zheng Zhang, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, 518036, Beijing Municipality, China
    Min Liu, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, 518036, Beijing Municipality, China
    Panpan Xu, Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Anhui, China
    Juanjuan Dong, Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Anhui, China
    Yuting Huang, Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Anhui, China
    Chao Wang, Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Anhui, China
    Haotian Qin, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Orthopaedic Biomaterials, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, 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.