A 2A R as a Prognostic Marker and a Potential Immunotherapy Target in Human Glioma

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 7
• Main Authors: Rafii, Soumaya, Ghouzlani, Amina, Naji, Oumayma, Ait Ssi, Saadia, Kandoussi, Sarah, Lakhdar, Abdelhakim, Badou, Abdallah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 03-04-2023
• Subjects: Adenosine; Astrocytoma; Brain Neoplasms - genetics; Brain Neoplasms - metabolism; Brain Neoplasms - therapy; Glioma - genetics; Glioma - metabolism; Glioma - therapy; Humans; Immunotherapy; Male; Prognosis; Receptor, Adenosine A2A - metabolism; human glioma; transcriptomic level; immune system; A2AR; immune checkpoints
• ISSN: 1422-0067

Gliomas are considered one of the most malignant tumors in the body. The immune system has the ability to control the initiation and development of tumors, including gliomas. Thus, immune cells find themselves controlled by various molecular pathways, inhibiting their activation, such as the immunosuppressive adenosine 2A receptor (A
R). Our objective was to establish the expression profile and role of
at the transcriptomic level, using real-time RT-PCR in Moroccan glioma patients, in addition to TCGA and CGGA cohorts. The real-time RT-PCR results in Moroccan patients showed that high expression of this gene was associated with poor survival in males. Our study on the CGGA cohort corroborated these results. In addition, there was a positive association of
with T-cell exhaustion genes.
also correlated strongly with genes that are primarily enriched in focal adhesion and extracellular matrix interactions, inducing epithelial mesenchymal transition, angiogenesis, and glioma growth. However, in the TCGA cohort, the
showed results that were different from the two previously examined cohorts. In fact, this gene was instead linked to a good prognosis in patients with the astrocytoma histological type. The correlation and enrichment results reinforced the prognostic role of
in this TCGA cohort, in which its high expression was shown to be related to lymphocyte differentiation and a successful cytolytic response, suggesting a more efficient anti-tumor immune response. Correlations and differential analyses based on
gene expression, to understand the cause of the association of this gene with two different prognoses (CGGA males and TCGA Astrocytoma), showed that the overexpression of A
R in Chinese male patients could be associated with the overexpression of extracellular adenosine, which binds to A
R to induce immunosuppression and consequently a poor prognosis. However, in the second group (TCGA astrocytomas), the overexpression of the gene could be associated with an adenosine deficiency, and therefore this receptor does not undergo activation. The absence of
activation in these patients may have protected them from immunosuppression, which could reflect the good prognosis.
can be considered a promising therapeutic target in male CGGA and Moroccan patients with gliomas.