Pan-Cancer Analysis Based on Gene Mutation and Epigenetic Modification Explains The Value of HJURP in The Tumor Microenvironment

Objective: To analyze expression levels, prognostic value and immune infiltration association of Holliday junction protein (HJURP) as well as its feasibility as a pan-cancer biomarker for different cancers. Methods: The Protter online tool was utilized to obtain the protein structure and localization of HJURP in diverse tumors, then the mutation and methylation of HJURP in tumors were further explored. Thereafter, the mRNA data and clinical characteristics of 33 tumor types from TCGA database were obtained for investigating HJURP levels within different tumor types and different tumor stages and its prognostic relation. Finally, the composition pattern and immune infiltration of HJURP in different tumors were detected in Tumor Immune Estimation Resource. Results: HJURP was abnormally expressed in most of the cancer types and subtypes in TCGA database. Also, it was related to metastasis, tumor stage, and poor prognosis of different cohorts. Moreover, HJURP was related to tumor immune escape through diverse mechanisms, including T cell rejection and methylation within diverse cancers. Besides, the methylation of HJURP was inversely proportional to mRNA expression levels, which mediated the dysfunctional phenotypes of T cells and poor prognosis of different cancer types. Patients with HJURP mutations had a higher tumor mutation load than those with no HJURP mutations. Alternatively, based on this work, HJURP level was related to immune cell infiltration within diverse cancers. Conclusions: HJURP may serve as an oncogenic molecule, and its expression and immune infiltration characteristics can be used as the diagnostic, prognostic marker and therapeutic target.