Pan-cancer analysis of the oncogenic effects of ribosomal protein L13 (MRPL13) and validation in hepatocellular carcinoma

Purpose: Mitochondrial ribosomal protein 13 (MRPL13) belongs to the large family of mitochondrial ribosomal proteins, and mitochondrial ribosomal protein (MRPL) genes are involved in a variety of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle. Numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of MRPL13 in tumorigenesis, but no systematic pan-cancer analysis has been performed. Methods The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic and immune functions of MRPL13 through bioinformatics analysis of datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas, UALCAN, GEPIA2, cBioPortal, TIMER2, and the Human Protein Atlas. Expression of MRPL13 was correlated with prognosis, tumor mutational burden, immune cell infiltration, drug prediction, and oncogenic pathways. Results MRPL13 has been found to be highly expressed in various types of cancers and is associated with poor prognosis. Patients with high MRPL13 expression have higher levels of Th2 cell infiltration and may respond better to immunotherapy. In HCC, MRPL13 is highly expressed and may promote cell proliferation by regulating cell cycle progression. In conclusion, the present study suggests that MRPL13 is a reliable prognostic and immunotherapeutic biomarker, and is particularly promising as a therapeutic target for HCC. Conclusion In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that MRPL13 is upregulated in a wide range of cancers and has reliable diagnostic and prognostic value. In addition, MRPL13 may also play an important role in the tumor immune microenvironment, as verified by the following results: overexpression of MRPL13 was associated with high immunogenicity of tumors, suggesting a possible benefit of immunotherapy. We also identified potentially effective therapeutic agents such as BI-325 and darbepoetinide for patients with high MRPL13 expression, who are more likely to be sorafenib and TACE resistant. In HCC, MRPL13 promotes cell cycle progression and proliferation in liver cancer. These findings highlight the potential significance of MRPL13 as a predictive biomarker for prognosis and response to immunotherapy in cancer patients, and in particular provide a new therapeutic target for HCC.