Lee, Dong-Hee Jeong, Yu-Jeong Won, Ju-Young Sim, Hye-In Park, Yoon Jin, Hyung-Seung 2024-01-19T12:33:45Z 2024-01-19T12:33:45Z 2022-04-05 2022-02 2227-9059 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/115661 Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy has proven efficacy in a subset of colon cancer patients featuring a deficient DNA mismatch repair system or a high microsatellite instability profile. However, there is high demand for more effective biomarkers to expand the colon cancer population responding to ICI therapy. PBK/TOPK, a serine/threonine kinase, plays a role in cell cycle regulation and mitotic progression. Here, we investigated the correlation between PBK/TOPK expression and tumor immunity and its prognostic value in colon cancer. Based on large-scale bioinformatics analysis, we discovered that elevated PBK/TOPK expression predicted a favorable outcome in patients with colon cancer and was positively associated with immune infiltration levels of CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, natural killer cells, and M1 macrophages. In contrast, a negative correlation was found between PBK/TOPK expression and immune suppressor cells, including regulatory T cells and M2 macrophages. Furthermore, the expression of PBK/TOPK was correlated with the expression of T-cell cytotoxicity genes in colon cancer. Additionally, high PBK/TOPK expression was associated with mutations in DNA damage repair genes, and thus with increased tumor mutation and neoantigen burden. These findings suggest that PBK/TOPK may serve as a prognostic and predictive biomarker for immunotherapy in colon cancer. English MDPI AG PBK/TOPK Is a Favorable Prognostic Biomarker Correlated with Antitumor Immunity in Colon Cancers Article 10.3390/biomedicines10020299 1 Biomedicines, v.10, no.2 Biomedicines 10 2 Y scie scopus 000763025900001 2-s2.0-85124332052 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Medicine, Research & Experimental Pharmacology & Pharmacy Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Research & Experimental Medicine Pharmacology & Pharmacy Article ORIGINATED PROTEIN-KINASE PDZ-BINDING KINASE COLORECTAL-CANCER TOPK EXPRESSION PHOSPHORYLATION REGULATOR CELLS PBK TOPK colon cancer prognosis immunotherapy tumor mutation burden