Open Access

ARTICLE

Identification of TMEM159 as a biomarker of glioblastoma progression based on immune characteristics

JI SHI^1,2, YE ZHANG², YI CHEN², TANGJUN GUO^3,*, HAOZHE PIAO^2,*

1 Graduate School, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, 116000, China
2 Department of Neurosurgery, Liaoning Cancer Hospital & Institute, Shenyang, 110042, China
3 Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221000, China

* Corresponding Authors: TANGJUN GUO. Email: ; HAOZHE PIAO. Email:

BIOCELL 2024, 48(8), 1241-1263. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2024.051049

Received 26 February 2024; Accepted 27 May 2024; Issue published 02 August 2024

Abstract

Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most general malignancy of the primary central nervous system that is characterized by high aggressiveness and lethality. Transmembrane protein 159 (TMEM159) is an endoplasmic reticulum protein that can form oligomers with seipin. The TMEM159-seipin complex decides the site of lipid droplet (LD) formation, and the formation of LDs is a marker of GBM. However, the role of TMEM159 in the progression of GBM has not been investigated to date. Methods: In this study, we examined the genes that may be associated with patient prognosis in GBM by bioinformatics analyses, and identified the key genes that affect the development of GBM using single-cell RNA sequencing technology. The biological functions of TMEM159 in GBM cells were additionally assessed by clone formation and transwell assays as well as using a model of chick embryo chorioallantois membrane (CAM) and western blotting. The association between TMEM159 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was finally analyzed in GBM cells. Results: A prognostic model was established and validated for predicting the prognosis. Survival curve analysis showed a critical difference in the prognosis of the high- and low-risk groups predicted by the prognostic model. The results demonstrated that TMEM159 affected the proliferation and invasion of GBM cells. The chick embryo CAM assays demonstrated that the inhibition of TMEM159 expression reduced angiogenesis in the CAM model. Conclusions: The prognostic model achieved good predictive potential for high-risk patients. The findings also revealed that TMEM159 might be an important prognostic factor for GBM, indicating that the protein may be a promising therapeutic target for suppressing the development of GBM.

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