Tumorigenic role of Pak4 in ovarian cancer and its correlation with immune infiltration

Abstract Background Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of gynecological cancer death. Pak4 has been proved to be tumorigenic in many types of cancers, but its role in ovarian cancer is still not clarified. Methods In this study, we used immunohistochemistry to investigate into Pak4 expression in different histological types of ovarian cancer. TIMER, GEPIA, ualcan, KM plotter, GSCA and GeneMANIA were used to identify the prognostic roles and gene regulation networks of Pak4 in ovarian cancer. Immune infiltration levels were investigated using TIMER database. Results Pak4 was highly expressed in ovarian cancers, regardless of different FIGO stages and histological grades. However, Pak4 level was significantly correlated with different histological types of ovarian cancer. Pak4 expression was negatively connected with OS and PFS of ovarian cancer patients. Functions of Pak4 and its interacted genes were mainly involved in protein serine/threonine kinase activity, regulation of actin filament-based process and regulation of cytoskeleton organization. Pak4 level was negatively correlated with immune biomarkers of B cell infiltration (p = 2.39e-05), CD8 + T cell infiltration (p = 1.51e-04), neutrophil (p = 1.74e-06) and dendritic cell (p = 4.41e-08). Conclusions Our results indicated the expression, gene interaction networks and immune infiltration levels of Pak4 in ovarian cancer, revealing potential role of Pak4 in tumorigenesis and immunotherapeutic target.