The prognostic value of ubiquitin/ubiquitin-like-related genes along with immune cell infiltration and clinicopathological features in osteosarcoma

Background: Ubiquitin/ubiquitin-like (Ub/UBL)-related genes have been reported to be associated with the survival of osteosarcoma patients but have not yet been systematically explored.

Methods: The prognostic value of Ub/UBL-related genes, immune cell infiltration and clinicopathological features of patients were explored by Cox and LASSO regression analyses. A prognostic model was established and then validated in the GSE21257 dataset. The differential expression of hub genes in osteosarcoma was confirmed by qRT-PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry.

Results: Tripartite Motif Containing 8 (TRIM8) and Ubiquitin Like With PHD And Ring Finger Domains 2 (UHRF2) were screened as genes with prognostic value in osteosarcoma. Kaplan-Meier analysis and scatter plots indicated that patients in the high gene significance score group tended to have a worse prognosis. The concordance index, calibration analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis suggested that the model had good prediction accuracy and high sensitivity and specificity. Decision curve analysis revealed that patients could obtain greater net benefit from this model. Functional analyses of the differentially expressed genes indicated that they were involved in important functions and pathways. TRIM8 and UHRF2 were confirmed to be highly expressed in osteosarcoma cell lines and tissues.

Conclusions: TRIM8 and UHRF2 are potential prognostic genes in osteosarcoma, and these results provide insights into the roles of these genes and their implications for patient outcomes.