Transcriptome Analysis and Single-Cell Sequencing Analysis Reveal the Prognostic Value and Immune Landscapes of CD276 in Pan-Cancer and Clinical Validation in Glioblastoma

Background: CD276, also known as B7-H3, is one of the most important immune checkpoints of CD28 and B7 families, and its abnormal expression is closely associated with cancers. It has been discovered that CD276 can inhibit the function of T cells, which may become a promising immunotherapy target for cancers. Methods Since there are few systematic studies on CD276 in cancers, this study used single-cell sequencing and bioinformatics methods to analyze the expression patterns, clinical significance, prognostic value, epigenetic alterations, DNA methylation level, tumor immune cell infiltration and immune functions of CD276 in cancers. In addition, we performed a simple validation of the above analysis using RT-qPCR assay. Results The results showed that CD276 is highly expressed and often associated with poorer survival and prognosis in most cancers. In addition, CD276 expression was closely associated with T cell infiltration, immune checkpoint genes, immunoregulatory interactions between lymphoid and a non-lymphoid cell. It is worth mentioning that CD276 expression was significantly higher than normal controls by RT-qPCR in glioblastoma (GBM), and the co-expression network, biological function and chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity of CD276 in GBM were further explored. Conclusions Our findings reveal important roles of CD276 in different cancers, especially GBM, and may become a potential cancer biomarker.