Objective To explore the correlation between the components of immune cell subsets in tumor microenvironment of colorectal cancer and the progression of colorectal cancer disease, and to explore the differential regulatory effects of different CD4+ T cell subsets on the progression of colorectal cancer. Methods Using the single cell transcriptome sequencing data of colorectal cancer patients in GEO database, CIBERSORTx algorithm was used to assess the immune cell subsets score from the transcriptome sequencing data of colorectal cancer patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The obtained immune cell subsets scores were combined with clinical data to analyze the correlation between metastasis and prognosis. Subsets related genes were calculated based on immune cell subsets scores, and functional enrichment scores performed by using DAVID analysis platform were used to compare the different regulatory function of immune cell subsets in colorectal cancer. Lasso algorithm/regression was used to screen immune cell subsets and Cox analysis was used to construct a risk prognosis model. Results The abundance of CD4-TCF7 was significantly increased in metastatic patients of colorectal cancer compared with non-metastatic patients (P<0.01), the abundance of CD4-CTLA4, CD8-LEF1, PLASMAB-IgG, and MACRO-IL1B decreased in metastatic patients(P<0.05). In the survival analysis, 15 of the 38 immune cell subsets were significantly associated with over survival based on the AUC curve (P<0.05). After analyzing the regulatory functions of CD4+ T cell subsets in colorectal cancer cells, we find the CD4-GNLY,CD4-ANXA1 and CD4-CXCR6 with more powerful regulation on the colorectal cancer angiogenesis related pathways compared to others, CD4-IL23R preferentially enriched in energy metabolism related pathways, CD4-GZMK compared to other subsets uniquely enriched in hypoxia stress related pathways, CD4-ANXA1, CD4-TCF7 and CD4-CTLA4 compared to other subsets preferentially enriched in the cell proliferation related pathways, CD4-ANXA1, CD4-TCF7, CD4-CTLA4, and CD4-CXCL13 preferentially enriched in the pathways of cell adhesion and cell migration compared to other subsets. Conclusions There are differences in the regulation of colorectal cancer cell function by immune cell subsets. The composition of immune cell subsets in colorectal cancer immune microenvironment affects the survival and prognosis of patients.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |