A comprehensive analysis of the prognostic and immunological role of ANK3 in pan-cancer.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a common cause of death around the world. Immunotherapy plays a significant role in cancer treatment but still has limitations. The ankyrin-3 ( ANK3 ) gene has been shown to have a variety of biological roles and has also been shown to be closely linked to individual cancers.

METHODS: We systematically investigated the role of ANK3 in pan-cancer, particularly in relation to immunity. We collected data from a number of databases, including the The University of ALabama at Birmingham CANcer data analysis Portal (UALCAN), tumor-immune system interactions (TISIDB), cBioPortal, Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER), Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING), BioGRID, and SangerBox databases. R (version 3.6.3) was used for the statistical analysis and data visualization. The expression of ANK3 in tumors and its effects on patient prognosis, immune infiltration, neoantigens, the microenvironment, immune checkpoints (ICs), the tumor mutation burden, microsatellite instability (MSI), methylation, mismatch repair (MMR) genes, and cancer-associated fibroblasts were investigated. A gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was also conducted.

RESULTS: The ANK3 gene was differentially expressed at the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels in various human tumors. The prognosis of patients with different types of malignancies was correlated with the level of ANK3 expression. The immunological microenvironment was also linked to ANK3 expression, especially in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD), kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), and liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). ANK3 was also associated with ICs, immune neoantigens, MSI, the tumor mutation load, MMR genes, and DNA methylation. Finally, we found the key pathway related to the ANK3 gene through the enrichment analysis.

CONCLUSIONS: ANK3 could serve as a new biomarker specific to prognosis and immunotherapy in various cancers. Our findings could contribute to the development of novel strategies for treating malignancies.