Using Tumor-Infiltrating Immune Cells and a ceRNA Network Model to Construct a Prognostic Analysis Model of Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

Thyroid carcinoma is a solid malignant tumor that has had a fast-growing incidence in recent years. Our research used thyroid carcinoma gene expression profiling from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) database to identify differentially expressed ceRNAs. Using the gene expression profiling from 502 carcinoma thyroid tissues and 58 normal thyroid tissues from the TCGA database, we established the thyroid carcinoma-specific competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network and found nine overall survival (OS)-associated genes (PRDM1, TGFBR3, E2F1, FGF1, ADAM12, ALPL, RET, AL928654.2, AC128688.2). We quantified the proportions of immune cells using the algorithm “CIBERSORT”, found three OS-associated immune cells (memory B cells, M0 macrophages, and activated dendritic cells), and established a thyroid carcinoma-specific immune cell network based on that. The good reliabilities AUC (area under the curve) of 10-year survival (0.955, 0.944, respectively) were accessed from the nomograms of genes and immune cells. Subsequently, by conducting co-expression analyses, we found a potential regulation network among ceRNAs and immune cells. Besides, we found that ALPL (alkaline phosphatase) and hsa-miR-204-5p were significantly correlated and that ALPL was related to activated dendritic cells. We took advantage of multi-dimensional databases to verify our discovery. Besides, immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays were conducted to detect the expression of a dendritic cell marker (CD11c) and ALPL in thyroid carcinoma (TC) and paracancerous tissues. In summary, our study found a potential mechanism in which hsa-miR-204-5p regulated ALPL in activated dendritic cells, which may allow them to play a critical role in thyroid carcinoma. These findings provide potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for thyroid carcinoma.