The roles and potential mechanisms of HCST in the prognosis and immunity of KIRC via comprehensive analysis

Objectives: Hematopoietic cell signal transducer (HCST) participates in the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase-dependent signaling pathway and in the natural killer (NK) and T cell responses, which affect cell survival and proliferation. Here, the values of HCST in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) are analyzed. Methods: We used GEO, TCGA, GEPIA, UALCAN and TIMER databases to profile the expression of HCST in KIRC tissues, and define its clinical roles. The biological functions and signaling mechanisms modulated by HCST and its co-expressed genes were identified and analyzed via the GO and KEGG databases. On the other hand, the potential value of HCST expression in KIRC immunity was explored using the TIMER and GEPIA databases. Results: Our analysis demonstrated that HCST is significantly overexpressed in KIRC tissues. The upregulation of HCST is associated with clinical stage, tumor grade, tissue subtype and poor prognosis of KIRC patients. Increased HCST expression might be involved in signaling pathways such as antigen processing and presentation, cell adhesion molecules, cytokine-cytokine receptor, chemokine signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway, FC gammar mediated phagocytosis and B cell receptor signaling pathway. In addition, the expression of HCST was significantly correlated with the levels of KIRC purity, B cells, CD8(+) T Cell, CD4(+) T cells, macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells (DC). Furthermore, the HCST expression is associated with levels of immune infiltration B cells, CD8(+) T Cell, CD4(+) T cells, macrophages, neutrophils and DC. Conclusions: Our data demonstrated that HCST could be a potential prognostic biomarker, and is related to the immune infiltration in KIRC.