CELSR3 is a Prognostic Marker in HNSCC and Correlates with Immune Cell Infiltration in the Tumor Microenvironment

Abstract Objectives: HNSCC is the world's sixth most prevalent cancer. CELSR3 is engaged in immune system regulation and has activation and inhibition potential. However, it is unknown whether CELSR3 impacts the prognosis of HNSCC. The purpose of this study was to look at the diagnostic value of the CELSR3 gene in HNSCC and its effect on tumor immune invasion, which is important for enhancing HNSCC treatment. Materials and Methods: Several bioinformatics tools were employed to investigate CELSR3's putative oncogenic pathway in HNSCC, and datasets from the TCGA, TIMER, GEPIA, and LinkedOmics were extracted and evaluated. CELSR3 has been linked to tumor immune cell infiltration, immunological checkpoints, and immune-related genes. CELSR3's putative roles were investigated using GO, KEGG, and pathway enrichment analysis. The expression level of CELSR3 in HNSCC tissues and cells was detected by RT-qPCR. The effects of CELSR3 on proliferation of HNSCC cells were detected by CCK-8 assay. Results: CELSR3 was shown to be expressed differently in different types of cancer and normal tissues. CELSR3 gene expression was linked to pN-stage, pM-stage, and age. Patients with high CELSR3 expression also have a well prognosis. CELSR3 expression was found to be an independent predictive factor for HNSCC in both univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. We discovered the functional network of CELSR3 in HNSCC using GO and KEGG analysis. CELSR3 expression levels were found to be favorably associated with immune cell infiltration levels. Furthermore, CELSR3 expression levels were significantly correlated with the expression levels of many immune molecules, such as MHC genes, immune activation genes, chemokine receptors, and chemokines. CELSR3 is highly expressed in HNSCC tissues and cells. CELSR3 overexpression significantly inhibited the proliferation of HNSCC cells. CELSR3 expression may affect the immune microenvironment and, as a result, the prognosis of HNSCC. Conclusion: CELSR3 expression is elevated in HNSCC tumor tissues, and high CELSR3 expression is associated with well prognosis, which inhibited the proliferation of NHSCC cells. CELSR3 has the potential to influence tumor formation by controlling tumor-infiltrating cells in the TME. As a result, CELSR3 may have diagnostic significance in HNSCC.