The Prognostic Significance of and Its Related Immune Infiltration in Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) remains a global health challenge with poor prognosis and high mortality. was first discovered as a receptor for the immunosuppressant drug FK506 in immune cells and is critical for various tumors and cancers. However, the relationships between expression, cellular distribution, tumor immunity, and prognosis in LIHC remain unclear. Here, we investigated the expression level of and its prognostic value in LIHC via multiple datasets including ONCOMINE, TIMER, GEPIA, UALCAN, HCCDB, Kaplan-Meier plotter, LinkedOmics, and STRING. Human liver tissue microarray was employed to analyze the characteristics of FKBP1A protein including the expression level and pathological alteration in cellular distribution. expression was significantly higher in LIHC and correlated with tumor stage, grade and metastasis. The expression level of the FKBP1A protein was also increased in LIHC patients along with its accumulation in endoplasmic reticulum (ER). High expression was correlated with a poor survival rate in LIHC patients. The analysis of gene co-expression and the regulatory pathway network suggested that is mainly involved in protein synthesis, metabolism and the immune-related pathway. expression had a significantly positive association with the infiltration of hematopoietic immune cells including B cells, CD8 T cells, CD4 T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells. Moreover, M2 macrophage infiltration was especially associated with a poor survival prognosis in LIHC. Furthermore, expression was significantly positively correlated with the expression of markers of M2 macrophages and immune checkpoint proteins such as , , and . Our study demonstrated that could be a potential prognostic target involved in tumor immune cell infiltration in LIHC.