Abstract:
Objective
To analyze the expression level of solute carrier family 29 member 3（SLC29A3） gene in liver cancer and its relationship with prognosis， clinical stage， immune cell infiltration，microsatellite instability and tumor mutational load.
Methods
Pan-cancer analysis of SLC29A3 expression was analyzed with TCGA database.The expression data of SLC29A3 mRNA in liver cancer and adjacent tissues were obtained from TCGA database， and SLC29A3 expression levels were compared between liver cancer and adjacent tissues.Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier Plotter.Prognostic factors were identified by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses.The correlation between gene expression and pathway score was analyzed by GSVA package of R software.
Results
TCGA database analysis showed that SLC29A3 was highly expressed in multiple tumors.The genetic information of SLC29A3 was obtained from 371 cases of liver cancer tissue samples and 50 cases of adjacent tissue samples based on RNA-seq data from TCGA database.The results revealed that the relative expression of SLC29A3 in liver cancer tissues was 2.7±0.6， significantly higher than 2.2±0.5 in normal liver tissues （t=5.529， P＜0.05）.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the median survival time of liver cancer patients with high expression of SLC29A was 37.2 months， 80.4 months for those with low expression of SLC29A.The prognosis of liver cancer patients with high expression of SLC29A was even worse （HR=2.209， P＜0.05）.Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses demonstrated that high expression of SLC29A3 was an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with liver cancer （HR=1.67， 95%CI： 1.25-2.23； P＜0.05）.Correlation analysis showed that high expression of SLC29A3 in liver cancer was positively correlated with tumor proliferation-related signals， tumor inflammatory response and PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway （rs=0.32， 0.12， 0.27； all P＜0.05）.High expression of SLC29A3 was positively correlated with the infiltration of regulatory T cells（Treg）， myeloid suppressor cells （MDSC） and cancer-associated fibroblasts （CAFs） （rs=0.31， 0.28， 0.16； all P＜0.05）， and high expression of SLC29A3 was also positively correlated with microsatellite instability （MSI）score （rs=0.11， P＜0.05）.
Conclusions
SLC29A3 expression is up-regulated in liver cancer， and its high expression is associated with poor prognosis.High expression of SLC29A3 can induce tumor proliferation，inflammation and activation of PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway by provoking the infiltration of Treg，MDSC and CAFs and MSI， thereby regulating the progression of liver cancer.
Key words:
Cancer, hepatocellular,
Solute carrier family 29 member 3 (SLC29A3),
Prognosis,
Immune infiltration,
Signaling pathways,
Microsatellite instability
Xiyan Zheng, Runpeng Wu, Fei Du, Yufen Xie, Pinggen Wang, Guangquan Zhang, Hang Zhai, Hanxi He, Ruixi Li. Expression and clinical significance of SLC29A3 in liver cancer based on bioinformatic analysis[J]. Chinese Journal of Hepatic Surgery(Electronic Edition), 2025, 14(02): 290-295.