Association of NUSAP1 with tumor cell proliferation and immune cell infiltration in esophageal carcinoma: database based research

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expression，clinical significance and functional mechanism of nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1（NUSAP1）in esophageal carcinoma（ESCA），and to provide new ideas for the early diagnosis and treatment of ESCA.Methods ESCA samples and paracancerous samples were downloaded from GEPIA2 and TIMER databases to analyze the expression of NUSAP1，STRING and Cytoscape software were used to construct the PPI network of NUSAP1 related genes，and GO，KEGG and GSEA enrichment analysis were performed. The TIMER database was used to analyze the correlation between NUSAP1 and immune cells. Finally，the expression of NUSAP1 in ESCA tissues and cells was verified by RT-PCR，Western blot and immunohistochemistry，and ESCA cells were transfected with lentivirus-coated small interfering RNA to knock down the expression of NUSAP1. The effect of NUSAP1 on ESCA cell proliferation was evaluated by CKK-8 and Ki67 immunofluorescence.Results NUSAP1 was highly expressed in ESCA tissues and cells. The expression of NUSAP1 was positively correlated with the infiltration of CDK1，B cells and macrophages，but negatively correlated with the infiltration of CD4⁺ T cells，CD8⁺ T cells，neutrophils and dendritic cells. GSEA analysis found that the high expression group of NUSAP1 was mainly enriched in Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway，peroxidase pathway，PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. In vitro，knockdown of NUSAP1 inhibited the proliferation of ESCA cells.Conclusion NUSAP1 is highly expressed in ESCA and closely related to ESCA cell proliferation and immune cell infiltration. Therefore，NUSAP1 may help the diagnosis and treatment of ESCA.