RUVBL1 Influences Immune Infiltration and Prognosis of Patients with Colon Adenocarcinoma

Introduction: RuvB-like protein 1 (RUVBL1) has been reported to be associated with tumor progression in various cancers. However, its role in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) remains poorly understood. Methods: RUVBL1 mRNA and protein expression in COAD were analyzed using the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2) and UALCAN databases, respectively. The prognostic value of RUVBL1 was assessed based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-COAD datasets. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), immunofluorescence, and western blot assays were performed to confirm RUVBL1 expression levels in COAD and normal colon samples. RUVBL1-related genes in the TCGA-COAD datasets were identified using Spearman's correlation analysis, and RUVBL1-related immunomodulators were identified through the Tumor and Immune System Interaction Database (TISIDB). These genes and im-munomodulators were subjected to functional enrichment analysis. Immune infiltration anal-ysis was conducted to explore the association between RUVBL1 expression and tumor-infil-trating immune cells in COAD. The methylation status of RUVBL1 and its prognostic signif-icance were analyzed using the MethSurv database. Results: Analysis of the GEPIA2 and UALCAN databases revealed that RUVBL1 expression was upregulated in COAD. Prognostic analysis indicated that RUVBL1 is a risk factor for poor survival in COAD patients. In vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed that RUVBL1 expression was higher in COAD samples compared to normal colon tissues. Functional en-richment analysis showed that RUVBL1-related genes and immunomodulators were primarily involved in immune and methylation-related processes. Immune infiltration analysis demon-strated that RUVBL1 expression was associated with 17 tumor-infiltrating immune cell types and negatively correlated with immune-related scores in COAD. Methylation analysis using the MethSurv database identified two RUVBL1 CpG sites that significantly influence the prognosis of COAD patients. Conclusion: These findings suggest that increased RUVBL1 expression is associated with poor prognosis and altered immune infiltration in COAD patients. RUVBL1 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for COAD.