ObjectiveTo explore the value of NOP2 in the prognosis of liver cancer based on bioinformatics.

MethodsTwo main scores of tumor infiltrating immune cells (TICs) were calculated by CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE in 497 patients with liver cancer, 54 of whom had paracancerous tissue. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found by Cox regression analysis. At the same time, qRT-PCR analysis was performed on 10 primary liver cancer patients undergoing hepatectomy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College.

ResultsThe expression of NOP2 was positively correlated with the pathological features of liver cancer(late M stage) and negatively correlated with the survival time of patients. Through gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA), it was found that the genes with high NOP2 expression were mainly enriched in immune-related pathways. Further study confirmed that there was a positive correlation between the expression of NOP2 and six kinds of immune cells, which included M0 macrophages, resting natural killer cells, activated CD4⁺ memory T cells, CD8⁺ T cells, follicular helper T cells, and regulatory T cells. The expression of NOP2 was negatively correlated with the expression of five types of immune cells, including memory B cells, eosinophil granulocyte cells, M2 macrophages, monocytes, and resting CD4⁺ memory T cells. Moreover, qRT-PCR showed that NOP2 was highly expressed in liver cancer and low expression in adjacent tissues.

ConclusionsNOP2 is highly expressed in liver cancer and negatively correlated with survival time. The expression of NOP2 may be helpful to predict the prognosis of liver cancer patients, especially to the influence of immune-related cells in tumor microenvironment.