AK2 is upregulated in glioma
To understand the expression of the AK2 gene in gliomas and other types of cancer, we utilized the TIMER2.0 tool to analyze the transcriptome expression levels of AK2 in different tumors and normal tissues. The results revealed that AK2 was abnormally expressed in most tumor tissues compared to normal tissues. Of particular interest, AK2 was significantly upregulated in gliomas, particularly in GBM (Figure 1A). Furthly, this study analyzed four independent transcriptome datasets using Gliovis analysis tool . And the accuracy of these results was further tested using glioma transcriptome datasets from different Lab groups provided by the Gliovis platform, which showed abnormal upregulation of AK2 in TCGA, CGGA, Rembrandit, and Gravendeel datasets relative to LGG and in GBM samples(Figure 1B). To validate these findings, we collected tumor tissue samples from different grades of glioma patients and prepared protein samples for detection. The results demonstrated that AK2 expression was significantly higher in HGG compared to normal tissue and LGG (Figure 1C and D).The expression of AK2 protein in clinical specimens of glioma was also examined using the Human Protein Atlas database, which revealed higher expression in GBM than normal tissue (Figure 1E).
AK2 Gene Knockdown Induces Apoptosis in GBM Cells
To further investigate the function of AK2 in glioma cells, we designed siRNA sequences to knock down AK2 gene expression in tumor cells. Our results demonstrated that AK2 knockdown led to a certain degree of apoptosis in U87-MG and U251 cells (Figure 2A), and downregulation of AK2 significantly affected the activation and expression of cleaved-caspase10 and cleaved-caspase3(Figure 2B). These findings suggest that AK2 may be involved in apoptosis in GBM and warrant further investigation into the molecular mechanism underlying it.
We also utilized flow cytometry to detect changes in apoptotic cell numbers of U87-MG and U251 cells following siRNA-mediated AK2 gene knockdown. Our results showed that compared to the control group, there was a certain degree of cell apoptosis in the siRNA-AK2 knockdown groups, with the most significant effect observed in the siRNA-AK2-3 (Figure 2C and D). Therefore, the experimental results show that in the U87-MG cell, knockdown AK2 gene expression can activate the apoptosis procedure executive proteins Caspase3, which personally induce apoptosis. As an apoptosis-related gene, AK2 gene has been reported to correlate with patient prognosis in other tumors and generally believed that the prognosis of patients is often closely related to the clinical indicators of the sample.
To understand the coorelation between AK2 gene expression and the clinical characteristics in glioma, we performed the univariate and multivariate regression analysis for gene expression and clinical merge informations. It is worth noting that AK2 expression in TCGA database was statistically correlated with sample’s age and tumor grade. AK2 expression in CGGA database was statistically correlated with sample age , tumor grade, chemotherapy resistance , IDH mutation and 1p19q_codeletion (Table 1 and 2).
Prognostic value of AK2 expression in glioma
An analysis of patient survival provides one of the most direct methods for identifying key gene expression and determining prognosis in tumor patients. This approach has led to the identification of several important proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. In our study, we analyzed the association between AK2 gene expression and glioma patient prognosis in TCGA. Our findings demonstrate that high expression of AK2 is significantly correlated with improved overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (DFS) in LGG patients, while no significant correlation was observed in GBM patients (Figure 3A and B). The overall prognosis of glioma patients is positively correlated with higher AK2 expression levels relative to all glioma patients. Moreover, we validated these conclusions in three independent CGGA cohorts, which provided consistent results with our previous findings regarding the overall prognosis of gliomas with high AK2 expression (Figure 3C).
Mutation Frequency and Gene Interaction Network Analysis of AK2 in Tumors
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between AK2 gene mutations and tumor clinical features, we conducted an analysis of the mutation frequency of AK2 in 33 types of cancer using the cBioPortal platform within the TCGA database. Our results indicate that AK2 has a lower mutation frequency in tumors (Figure 4A). Specifically, the mutation frequency for LGG and GBM is 0.1% and 0.6%, respectively (Figure 4B). Furthermore, based on the GeneMANIA database, our investigation into the AK2 gene-gene interaction network demonstrates that its function may be related to neuron necrosis, phosphotransferase activity, cell death due to oxidative stress, and nucleotide biosynthesis (Figure 4C).
Study on AK2 co-expression network in glioma
Gene co-expression networks is a significant area of research in tumor biology due to its close relationship with gene function. Co-expression networks are defined as the simultaneous expression of multiple genes in a single biological process, and these networks have been observed to provide insight into gene function and regulation in tumorigenesis.
By examining the correlation between the expression of multiple genes, researchers have been able to identify important regulators of tumor progression and the biochemical pathways involved. Furthermore, the analysis of gene co-expression networks has enabled a better understanding of the complexity of tumor biology, which can ultimately lead to improved treatments and therapies. To further explore the function of AK2 in gliomas, we used the LinkedOmics database to analyze the AK2-core gene co-expression network in gliomas. As shown below, red represents positively correlated genes co-expressed with AK2 and green represents negatively correlated genes co-expressed with AK2 (Figure 5A).
We selected the genes in the top 50% for further correlation analysis and visualized them by heat maps,the top ten genes with positive correlation with AK2 gene are SQOR、PCK2、IQGAP1、SUCLG2、PPA2、HMGCL、CASP1、LACTB、RUFY1 and SNX2. The top ten genes with negative correlation with AK2 gene are PODXL2、CSNK1E、MB21D2、STMN3、AGAP1、ADD1、MAGI1、MARK4、RUNDC3A and TANC2 (Figure 5B). The results of gene GO annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed that AK2 and its co-expressed genes were mainly involved in the protein folding of cells, redox homeostasis maintenance of mitochondria, and DNA damage stress. (Figure 5C).
Correlation Between AK2 Expression and Immune Cell Infiltration in TME
Immune cell infiltration analysis is important for tumor research because it can provide insight into the tumor's immune environment and its potential response to immunotherapies. Next, in order to clarify the relationship between AK2 expression and immune cell infiltration in the TME, the TIMER2.0 platform was used to analyze different dimensions of immunity.
The results showed that AK2 expression was positively correlated with macrophages and CD4+ T cells, and negatively correlated with regulatory T cell (Treg cell) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells(MDSC)(Figure 6A). We further analyzed the relationship between AK2 expression and immune cell infiltration through the TISIDB database. The results showed that AK2 expression was positively correlated with MSDC, inhibitory dendritic cells, effector memory CD8+ T cells, and effector memory CD4+ T cells (Figure 6B and C).
8. Correlation between AK2 mRNA expression and immune microenvironment
The TME is a complex interactive network composed of tumor cells, immune cells and surrounding tissues, which includes the chemical substances, proteins, cytokines, and other molecules that can interact with each other. Studying the tumor TME is critically important for developing novel immune-based therapies for cancer, improving patient survival rates, and exploring new treatment modalities. In this study, the relationship between AK2 expression and the immune microenvironment was investigated using the TISIDB database.
Our findings demonstrate significant correlation between AK2 expression and immunosuppressive gene expression, particularly with the upregulation of inhibitors such as CSF1R, HAVCR2, TGFB1, IL10RB, PDCD1LG2, and LGALS9 (Figure 7A). Additionally, we observed a positive association between AK2 and genes that exhibit robust expression of HLA-DMA, HLA-DMB, HLA-DOA, HLA-DRA, and HLA-DRB (Figure 7B).
Moreover, by analyzing the relationship between AK2 expression and chemokines, we identified a substantial positive correlation with CD276, CD40, CD86, MICB, and TMEM173 (Figure 7C). We also investigated the correlation between AK2 expression and chemokine receptors, finding a positive association with the first four receptors, including CCL2, CCL5, CCL22, and CXCL16 (Figure 7D). Our results suggest that AK2 may serve as a critical immunomodulatory gene in the tumor immune microenvironment.