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BMC Medical Genomics logoLink to BMC Medical Genomics
. 2025 Feb 17;18:33. doi: 10.1186/s12920-025-02103-w

Comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of HSPG2 as a marker for prognosis

Fangjun Chen 1,#, Xing Gu 2,#, Guangliang Qiang 3,
PMCID: PMC11831783  PMID: 39956899

Abstract

Background

In recent years, several studies have shown that HSPG2 is associated with the prognosis of specific cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of HSPG2 in pan-cancer and to analyze its possible mechanisms.

Methods

We used The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) to explore the expression of HSPG2 in 33 tumors and corresponding controls. Univariate Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis were applied to detect the effects of HSPG2 on overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and progression-free interval (PFI) in patients with these tumors, and to analyze the relationship between HSPG2 and clinical characteristics. And we further analyzed the relationship between HSPG2 and immune infiltration, DNA methylation and single cell function. And GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed using HSPG2 co-expressed genes. Finally, we explored the diagnostic efficacy of HSPG2 for diseases of interest and validated it using qPCR experiment.

Results

HSPG2 was lowly expressed in 17 cancers and highly expressed in 11 cancers, and was correlated with patient's clinical characteristics in many cancers. Multivariate regression analysis showed that HSPG2 was an independent prognostic factor for DSS, OS, and PFI in bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) and Mesothelioma (MESO). HSPG2 was correlated with DNA methylation, single-cell function, and immune infiltration in a variety of cancers. HSPG2 exhibited a good diagnostic efficacy for BLCA and MESO. qPCR and western blot results showed that HSPG2 expression was increased in mesothelioma compared to normal controls.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that HSPG2 could be considered as a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker for BLCA and MESO.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12920-025-02103-w.

Keywords: Pan cancer, HSPG2, Prognosis, Diagnosis, BLCA, MESO

Introduction

Cancer is the leading cause of death and a major obstacle to increasing life expectancy worldwide [1]. And cancer incidence has increased among adolescents and young adults (AYAs), but mortality has decreased significantly between 1990 and 2019 [2]. The resulting healthcare burden looms large. It is estimated that in 2024, 611,720 people will die of cancer in the United States, equating to about 1,680 deaths per day, and cancer patients are increasingly shifting from the elderly to the middle-aged [3]. This is also similar in China, where cancer incidence has increased for all cancers among young people aged 20–49, with the highest average annual percent change (AAPC) (1.46%) among adults aged 20–24 [4].

Perlecan (also known as heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2 (HSPG2)) is a ubiquitous HS proteoglycan synthesized by most cells, found in most pericellular and extracellular matrices, and considered to be an essential component of the basement membrane [5, 6]. The protein core of human perlecan is 460 kDa and consists of five distinct structural domains with glycosaminoglycan attachment sites located in the N-terminal and C-terminal domains. Perlecan exerts its tissue-specific activity through its glycosaminoglycan chains and the structure of these chains depends on the environment and the cellular origin [7].

Previous studies have suggested that HSPG2 may be associated with a variety of tumors. It may be associated with cell behavior, microenvironment, and aggressiveness in prostate cancer [810], prognosis of patients with AML [11], prognosis of patients with chemotherapy-resistant and triple-negative breast cancer [12, 13], immune checkpoint inhibitor outcomes in melanoma and non-small-cell lung cancer [14], prognosis of patients with oligoastrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, and glioblastoma [15, 16], metastasis and drug-resistance in pancreatic cancer cells [17], and melanoma aggressiveness [18], colorectal cancer [19], aggressiveness and prognosis of lung cancer [20, 21], prognosis of bladder cancer patients [22], and prognosis of gastric cancer patients [23].

Although the studies mentioned above have shown the role of HSPG2 in some cancers, the literature for some cancer types is too old without similar studies in recent years, and some studies included a small sample size of subjects. In this case, it is particularly important to analyze the role and value of HSPG2 in pan-cancer using a larger sample size. Therefore, this study intends to conduct a pan-cancer study of HSPG2 to explore the value of HSPG2 in pan-cancer and to analyze its possible mechanisms.

Methods

This study was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Gene expression and subcellular localization analysis of HSPG2 in pan-cancer

The TIMER database (http://cistrome.dfci.harvard.edu/TIMER/, accessed on March 6, 2024) is an analytical network for tumor immune cell infiltration, and it can analyze differential gene expression between tumor tissues and normal tissues [24].

In addition, since some of the tumors in TCGA lacked normal tissues, we also utilized the Xiantao Academic (https://www.xiantaozi.com/) online analysis tools (including RNA-seq data for 33 cancers from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and the Genotypic Tissue Expression (GTEx) database) to analyze the expression of HSPG2 in tumor and normal tissues. Significant differences were analyzed by Wilcoxon tests. In addition, we determined the subcellular localization of HSPG2 by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy (https://www.proteinatlas.org/search/, accessed on March 6, 2024) [25]. The abbreviations of the 33 tumors are shown in Table 1.

Table 1.

Pan-cancers and the corresponding abbreviations

Cancer Type Abbreviation
Adrenocortical carcinoma ACC
Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma BLCA
Breast invasive carcinoma BRCA
Cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma CESC
Cholangiocarcinoma CHOL
Colon adenocarcinoma COAD
Lymphoid Neoplasm Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma DLBC
Esophageal carcinoma ESCA
Glioblastoma multiforme GBM
Head and Neck squamous cell carcinoma HNSC
Kidney Chromophobe KICH
Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma KIRC
Kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma KIRP
Acute Myeloid Leukemia LAML
Brain Lower Grade Glioma LGG
Liver hepatocellular carcinoma LIHC
Lung adenocarcinoma LUAD
Lung squamous cell carcinoma LUSC
Mesothelioma MESO
Ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma OV
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma PAAD
Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma PCPG
Prostate adenocarcinoma PRAD
Rectum adenocarcinoma READ
Sarcoma SARC
Skin Cutaneous Melanoma SKCM
Stomach adenocarcinoma STAD
Testicular Germ Cell Tumors TGCT
Thyroid carcinoma THCA
Thymoma THYM
Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma UCEC
Uterine Carcinosarcoma UCS
Uveal Melanoma UVM

Relationship between HSPG2 and clinicopathologic features

The Wilcoxon test was used to explore the correlation between HSPG2 expression and clinicopathologic features, including T stage, N stage, M stage, stage, age, and gender. Correlation analyses were completed using the Xiantao Academic (https://www.xiantaozi.com/) online analysis tool.

Prognostic analysis of HSPG2

We chose overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and progression-free interval (PFI) to analyze the correlation between HSPG2 expression and the prognosis of 33 cancers. Patients were categorized into high and low HSPG2 groups based on the median HSPG2 expression value with 50% cut-off high and 50% cut-off low [26]. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and Cox regression were performed to explore the correlation between HSPG2 and survival prognosis. Correlation analyses were completed using the Xiantao Academic (https://www.xiantaozi.com/) online analysis tool.

Gene mutation analysis of HSPG2

cBioPortal (https://www.cbioportal.org/, accessed on March 6, 2024) is a web platform for analyzing tumor genomic characteristics in the HSPG2 gene. We used this database to analyze the frequency of pan-cancer mutations in HSPG2 [27]. Mutational alterations included mutation, amplification and deep deletion.

Relationship between HSPG2 and immunity

The TIMER database (http://cistrome.dfci.harvard.edu/TIMER/, accessed on March 6, 2024) was used to analyze the relationship between HSPG2 and tumor immune cell infiltration [28]. It can generate a functional heatmap table, enabling the user to easily identify significant associations in multiple cancer types simultaneously, such as cancer associated fibroblasts, endothelial cell and hematopoietic stem cell.

Correlation study of HSPG2 with TMB and MSI

TMB is defined as the total number of base mutations per million cells in a tumor. It is widely believed that TMB can stimulate the production of tumor-specific and high-immunogen antibodies and is a novel target for predicting the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy [29]. MSI is caused by DNA MMR abnormalities, which lead to gene duplication disorders and tumor development, affecting the prognosis of tumors [3032]. Spearman's correlation was used to analyze the correlation of HSPG2 with TMB and MSI.

DNA methylation analysis of HSPG2

DNA methylation is a common form of epigenetic modification. Abnormal DNA methylation may exist in tumor cells [33]. We searched the UALCAN database (http://ualcan.path.uab.edu/, accessed March on 7, 2024) to explore the level of HSPG2 promoter DNA methylation in certain cancers to identify differences between tumors and normal tissues. Shiny Methylation Analysis Resource Tool (SMART, http://www.bioinfo-zs.com/smartapp/, accessed on March 7, 2024) was used to discuss the distribution of methylated probes in chromosomes [34].

Single-cell functional analysis of HSPG2

The Cancer single-cell state atlas (CancerSEA, http://biocc.hrbmu.edu.cn/CancerSEA/, accessed on March 7, 2024) is an analytical tool used to study cancer cell function(such as metastasis, stemness, invasion, and proliferation) at the single-cell level and contains 14 tumor-associated cellular functions of 900 cancer cells from 25 cancers [35].

Co-expressed genes and enrichment analysis of HSPG2

GeneMANIA (http://genemania.org/, accessed on March 7, 2024) is an online tool for exploring gene interactions and functions and identifying co-expressed genes [36]. Nineteen genes co-expressed with HSPG2 were obtained through GeneMANIA. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment were conducted using the Bioinformatics online platform ( https://www.bioinformatics.com.cn/).

Diagnostic efficacy of HSPG2 for BLCA and MESO and qPCR results

We searched the GEO and TCGA databases and further explored the expression difference and diagnostic efficacy of HSPG2 for BLCA and MESO using the datasets GSE13507 (including 165 cases of primary tumors, 9 cases of normal bladder mucosa, and 58 cases of paracarcinoma mucosal tissues) and GSE51024 (including 55 tumor samples and 41 paired samples), respectively.

To further investigate the positive results we were interested in and to verify the accuracy of the conclusions, we performed qPCR experiments on the tumor cell lines and the corresponding normal cell lines to test whether there was a difference in the expression of HSPG2. Correlation analysis was conducted using the normal uroepithelial cell line Ku-1919 (icell-h473, iCell Bioscience lnc., China) and the bladder cancer cell line SV-HUC-1 (CL-0222) provided by Pricella Life Science&Technology Co.,Ltd, mesothelioma cell line NCI-H2452 [H2452] (CL-0398) and normal mesothelial cell line MET-5A (CL-0666). The medium information for each cell line was as follows: Ku-1919 (RPMI-1640 + 10% FBS + 1% P/S), SV-HUC-1 (Ham's F-12 K + 10% FBS + 1% P/S), H2452 (RPMI-1640 + 10% FBS + 1% P/S), MET-5A (M199 with 10% FBS complete medium). SteadyPure Quick RNA Extraction Kit, Evo M-MLV RT Mix Kit with gDNA Clean for qPCR Ver.2, SYBR Green Premix Pro TaqHS qPCR Kit III (Low Rox Plus) and primers for the target genes were purchased from ACCURATE BIOTECHNOLOGY (HUNAN) CO., LTD. The expression levels of the target genes were determined using the QuantStudio™ 5 System with human β-actin as a control. The following primers were used: human β-actin: 5'-TGGCACCCAGCACAATGAA-3'(primer F) and 5'-CTAAGTCATAGTCCGCCTAGAAGCA-3'(primer R); human HSPG2: 5'-GACGGCTCTTTCCACCTGAG-3' (primer F), 5'-CGACTGACACCCATGCAGAA-3' (primer R). Subsequently, delta-delta Ct method was used for data statistics.

Total protein was obtained from each sample using RIPA lysis buffer (Beyotime, China) supplemented with 1 µM phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF, Beyotime, China). Then, twenty microgram of protein was separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE, YAMEI, China) and transferred onto polyvinylidene fluoride membranes (PVDF, Millipore, USA). Subsequently, membranes were blocked with 5% non-fat milk for 2 h at room temperature, followed by incubation with primary antibodies at 4 °C overnight. The primary antibodies used in this study were anti-HSPG2 (Abcam, UK, ab255829) used at 1:1000 and anti-vinculin (ABclonal, China, A1758) used at 1:1000 diluted in primary antibody dilution buffer (Beyotime, China, P0256). The membranes were washed and exposed to corresponding horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated goat anti-mouse (1:1000, Beyotime, China, A0216) or goat anti-rabbit (1:1000, Beyotime, China, A0208) secondary antibodies diluted in TBST buffer for 1 h at room temperature. Finally, the protein bands were visualized with an enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) kit (Beyotime, China,P0018FM), and the band intensity was analyzed using OI-capture software (BIO-OI, China, OI900 MF).

Statistical analysis

Wilcoxon test was applied to study HSPG2 expression and its correlation with clinical features based on TCGA and GTEx databases. Spearman correlation analysis estimated the correlation of HSPG2 with TMB and MSI. Follow-up correlation analyses were performed using a variety of online analysis websites; p < 0.05 indicates statistical significance. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to investigate the diagnostic efficacy of HSPG2 for BLCA and MESO.

Results

Analysis of gene expression and subcellular localization of HSPG2 in pan-cancer

The TIMER database was used to analyze the expression of HSPG2 in pan-cancer and normal tissues. The results showed that HSPG2 expression was up-regulated in 7 cancers, including CHOL, GBM, HNSC, KIRC, LIHC, STAD and THCA, and it was down-regulated in 6 cancers, including BLCA, CESC, KICH, KIRP, PRAD and UCEC, as compared with normal tissues (Fig. 1a). Since some tumors in TIMER had no corresponding normal tissues, we combined TCGA and GTEx to study HSPG2 expression in 33 tumors and found that HSPG2 expression was up-regulated in 11 tumors compared to corresponding normal tissues, including CHOL, DLBC, GBM, HNSC, KIRC, LGG, LIHC, OV, PAAD, STAD and THYM, and it was down-regulated in 17 cancers, including ACC, BLCA, BRCA, CESC, COAD, ESCA, KICH, KIRP, LAML, LUAD, LUSC, PRAD, READ, SKCM, THCA, UCEC, and UCS (Fig. 1b). The results were generally consistent except for THCA.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

Expression and subcellular localization of HSPG2. a Expression of HSPG2 in pan-cancer and control in TIMER database; b Expression of HSPG2 in pan-cancer and control in Xiantao Academic Online database; c Subcellular localization of HSPG2

The subcellular localization of HSPG2 was obtained from online data by immunofluorescence localization of nuclei, microtubules and endoplasmic reticulum in A-431, U-2OS and U-251 MG cells. The results showed that HSPG2 was found in Nucleoplasm, Plasma membrane and Cytosol in all 3 cells (Fig. 1C). These results further indicate the universality of HSPG2 and the possibility of targeting HSPG2.

Relationship between HSPG2 and clinicopathological features

Subsequently, we explored the association between HSPG2 and clinicopathologic features. The details are shown in Fig. 2. The results showed that HSPG2 expression was higher in the higher T stage of urinary BLCA and KIRP, and in the lower T stage of THCA and KIRC (Fig. 2a). HSPG2 expression was lower in higher N stage of LUSC, and higher in higher N stage of KIRC (Fig. 2b). HSPG2 expression was lower than M0 in patients with M1-stage KIRC (Fig. 2c). HSPG2 expression was higher in the higher stages of BLCA and KIRP, and in the lower stages of THCA and KIRC (Fig. 2d). HSPG2 expression was higher in older patients with LUSC and THCA, and lower in older patients with TGCT, COAD and KIRP (Fig. 2e). HSPG2 expression was higher in male patients with SKCM and higher in female patients with LIHC and KIRP (Fig. 2f).

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Relationship between HSPG2 and clinical features. a Relationship between HSPG2 and T stage; b relationship between HSPG2 and N stage; c relationship between HSPG2 and M stage; d relationship between HSPG2 and staging; e relationship between HSPG2 and age; f relationship between HSPG2 and gender

Prognostic value of HSPG2

We chose OS, DSS and PFI to study the prognosis of HSPG2 in pan-cancer. Univariate analysis showed that high expression of HSPG2 had better OS, DSS, and PFI in KIRC, but shorter OS, DSS, and PFI in BLCA, LGG, and MESO. Moreover, high expression of HSPG2 had shorter OS and DSS in OV, and shorter PFI in ACC and COAD. The results are shown in Fig. 3a-c. Multivariate analysis showed that high expression of HSPG2 had shorter OS, DSS and PFI in BLCA and MESO, but low expression of HSPG2 had shorter OS in KIRC. The results are shown in Tables 2, 3, and 4. These findings suggested that HSPG2 may be an independent prognostic marker for BLCA and MESO.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

Relationship between HSPG2 and prognosis. a Relationship between HSPG2 and OS; b relationship between HSPG2 and DSS; c relationship between HSPG2 and PFI

Table 2.

Multivariate COX analysis of HSPG2 and BLCA prognosis

OS DSS PFI
Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis
Characteristics Total(N) HR(95% CI) P value HR(95% CI) P value Total(N) HR(95% CI) P value HR(95% CI) P value Total(N) HR(95% CI) P value HR(95% CI) P value
Pathologic T stage 377 364 378
 T1 5 Reference Reference 5 Reference Reference 5 Reference Reference
 T2 118

5,916,824.2028

(0.000—Inf)

0.993

2,532,492.7659

(0.000—Inf)

0.997 118

5,903,041.0662

(0.000—Inf)

0.994

2,105,780.4302

(0.000—Inf)

0.998 118

0.397

(0.140—1.122)

0.081

28,350,182.8668

(0.000—Inf)

0.999
 T3 195 11,004,504.7767 (0.000—Inf) 0.992

3,302,267.1043

(0.000—Inf)

0.997 184

11,068,411.8048

(0.000—Inf)

0.994

2,348,989.5659

(0.000—Inf)

0.998 196

0.774

(0.284—2.110)

0.617

54,521,478.9483

(0.000—Inf)

0.999
 T4 59 16,681,977.3123 (0.000—Inf) 0.992

2,797,375.5060

(0.000—Inf)

0.997 57

17,223,959.9614

(0.000—Inf)

0.993

2,618,174.4008

(0.000—Inf)

0.998 59

1.344

(0.475—3.806)

0.577

33,987,351.8957

(0.000—Inf)

0.999
Pathologic N stage 367 355 368
 N0 238 Reference Reference 232 Reference Reference 238 Reference Reference
 N1 46

1.844

(1.189—2.857)

0.006

1.128

(0.417—3.053)

0.813 45 2.754 (1.662—4.563)  < 0.001

1.324

(0.385—4.554)

0.656 46

2.377

(1.537—3.676)

 < 0.001

0.745

(0.278—2.000)

0.560
 N2 77

2.534

(1.781—3.606)

 < 0.001

2.080

(0.815—5.313)

0.126 72 3.437 (2.229—5.299)  < 0.001

3.578

(1.160—11.034)

0.027 77

2.931

(2.031—4.232)

 < 0.001

2.523

(0.968—6.579)

0.058
 N3 6

2.410

(0.759—7.654)

0.136

5.035

(0.296—85.67)

0.264 6 4.133 (1.279—13.35) 0.018

37.956

(1.587—907.8)

0.025 7

7.438

(2.969—18.63)

 < 0.001 52.294 (5.092—537.1)  < 0.001
Pathologic M stage 212 207 212
 M0 201 Reference Reference 196 Reference Reference 201 Reference Reference
 M1 11

3.112

(1.491—6.493)

0.002

0.354

(0.070—1.781)

0.208 11 4.171 (1.874—9.282)  < 0.001

0.089

(0.011—0.707)

0.022 11

6.416

(3.099—13.286)

 < 0.001

0.269

(0.047—1.547)

0.141
Histologic grade 408 394 409
 High grade 387 Reference 373 Reference 388 Reference Reference
 Low grade 21

0.338

(0.084—1.365)

0.128 21 0.464 (0.114—1.884) 0.283 21

0.274

(0.068—1.107)

0.069

0.000

(0.000—Inf)

0.998
Primary therapy outcome 355 352 355
 PD 70 Reference Reference 69 Reference Reference 70 Reference Reference
 SD 30

0.555

(0.325—0.949)

0.031

0.492

(0.139—1.739)

0.271 30

0.476

(0.267—0.848)

0.012

0.278

(0.064—1.207)

0.087 30

0.623

(0.384—1.012)

0.056

0.803

(0.288—2.241)

0.676
 PR 22

0.697

(0.398—1.218)

0.205

0.916

(0.255—3.297)

0.893 21

0.740

(0.416—1.317)

0.306

0.649

(0.162—2.601)

0.542 22

0.542

(0.315—0.933)

0.027

0.708

(0.207—2.422)

0.582
 CR 233

0.155

(0.105—0.228)

 < 0.001

0.202

(0.074—0.547)

0.002 232

0.074

(0.045—0.120)

 < 0.001

0.068

(0.020—0.235)

 < 0.001 233

0.099

(0.068—0.145)

 < 0.001

0.102

(0.040—0.260)

 < 0.001
Gender 411 397 412
 Female 108 Reference 102 Reference 108 Reference
 Male 303

0.868

(0.629—1.198)

0.390 295

0.877

(0.593—1.296)

0.510 304

0.911

(0.655—1.266)

0.578
Age 411 397 412
 < = 70 231 Reference Reference 224 Reference 232 Reference
 > 70 180

1.424

(1.064—1.906)

0.018

0.999

(0.469—2.125)

0.997 173

1.031

(0.721—1.474)

0.868 180

1.066

(0.791—1.435)

0.676
BMI 361 351 362
 < = 25 151 Reference 146 Reference 152 Reference
 > 25 210

1.000

(0.721—1.386)

0.998 205

1.069

(0.718—1.591)

0.743 210

1.073

(0.776—1.484)

0.669
Subtype 406 392 407
 Non-Papillary 273 Reference Reference 263 Reference Reference 273 Reference Reference
 Papillary 133 0.690 (0.487—0.976) 0.036

1.625

(0.663—3.980)

0.288 129

0.579

(0.372—0.900)

0.015

2.256

(0.709—7.184)

0.168 134

0.652

(0.459—0.926)

0.017

1.494

(0.636—3.509)

0.357
Lymphovascular invasion 280 272 281
 No 129 Reference Reference 126 Reference Reference 129 Reference Reference
 Yes 151

2.247

(1.547—3.263)

 < 0.001

1.999

(0.825—4.844)

0.125 146

2.975

(1.846—4.792)

 < 0.001

2.162

(0.692—6.756)

0.185 152

2.313

(1.587—3.373)

 < 0.001

1.090

(0.478—2.483)

0.838
Smoker 398 385 399
 No 109 Reference 105 Reference 109 Reference
 Yes 289

1.306

(0.923—1.849)

0.132 280

1.302

(0.857—1.977)

0.216 290

1.145

(0.818—1.603)

0.430
Radiation therapy 385 374 386
 No 364 Reference 353 Reference 365 Reference
 Yes 21

0.967

(0.475—1.968)

0.926 21

1.018

(0.448—2.316)

0.966 21

1.256

(0.662—2.381)

0.485
HSPG2 411 397 412
 Low 206 Reference Reference 200 Reference Reference 206 Reference Reference
 High 205

1.654

(1.228—2.229)

 < 0.001

2.204

(1.055—4.604)

0.036 197

1.727

(1.203—2.481)

0.003

2.693

(1.021—7.100)

0.045 206

1.445

(1.074—1.942)

0.015

2.392

(1.159—4.934)

0.018

Table 3.

Multivariate COX analysis of HSPG2 and MESO prognosis

OS DSS PFI
Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis
Characteristics Total(N) HR(95% CI) P value HR(95% CI) P value Total(N) HR(95% CI) P value HR(95% CI) P value Total(N) HR(95% CI) P value HR(95% CI) P value
Pathologic T stage 84 65 82
 T1 14 Reference 11 Reference 13 Reference
 T2 25

0.977

(0.470—2.032)

0.950 21

0.679

(0.254—1.816)

0.440 25

0.921

(0.412—2.056)

0.841
 T3 32

1.056

(0.519—2.149)

0.880 22

0.953

(0.370—2.456)

0.921 32

0.860

(0.394—1.881)

0.706
 T4 13

0.775

(0.327—1.838)

0.563 11

0.821

(0.283—2.382)

0.716 12

0.611

(0.234—1.593)

0.314
Pathologic N stage 82 62 80
 N0 44 Reference 36 Reference 42 Reference
 N1 10

0.919

(0.443—1.909)

0.822 5

0.380

(0.090—1.609)

0.189 10

0.604

(0.251—1.451)

0.259
 N2 25

0.805

(0.462—1.405)

0.446 19

0.627

(0.308—1.280)

0.200 25

0.642

(0.347—1.190)

0.159
 N3 3

1.753

(0.536—5.732)

0.353 2

1.535

(0.358—6.577)

0.563 3

1.768

(0.416—7.513)

0.440
Pathologic M stage 60 54 59
 M0 57 Reference 51 Reference 57 Reference
 M1 3

1.856

(0.441—7.817)

0.399 3

2.327

(0.541—10.007)

0.257 2

1.094

(0.147—8.129)

0.930
Pathologic stage 86 66 84
 Stage I 10 Reference 7 Reference 10 Reference
 Stage II 16

0.631

(0.265—1.507)

0.300 15

0.297

(0.094—0.937)

0.038 16

0.556

(0.221—1.401)

0.213
 Stage III 44

0.756

(0.359—1.592)

0.461 31

0.303

(0.107—0.860)

0.025 44

0.61

5 (0.280—1.349)

0.225
 Stage IV 16

0.705

(0.297—1.674)

0.428 13

0.390

(0.127—1.199)

0.100 14

0.448

(0.171—1.174)

0.102
Gender 86 66 84
 Female 16 Reference 15 Reference 16 Reference Reference
 Male 70

0.888

(0.494—1.595)

0.691 51

0.843

(0.424—1.676)

0.626 68

0.523

(0.285—0.961)

0.037

0.395

(0.207—0.752)

0.005
Age 86 66 84
< = 65 46 Reference 34 Reference 45 Reference
> 65 40

1.325

(0.826—2.125)

0.243 32

1.031

(0.563—1.887)

0.922 39

1.319

(0.787—2.210)

0.294
Histological type 86 66 84
 Biphasic 23 Reference Reference 18 Reference 22 Reference
 Diffuse malignant 5

0.575

(0.215—1.540)

0.271

0.638

(0.238—1.708)

0.371 5

0.766

(0.270—2.172)

0.616 4

0.834

(0.281—2.476)

0.743
 Epithelioid 57

0.497

(0.293—0.842)

0.009

0.586

(0.343—1.001)

0.051 42

0.506

(0.256—0.998)

0.049 57

0.496

(0.279—0.882)

0.017
 Sarcomatoid 1

3.418

(0.438—26.654)

0.241

2.718

(0.347—21.280)

0.341 1 0.000 (0.000—Inf) 0.997 1

0.000

(0.000—Inf)

0.997
Residual tumor 35 34 34
 R0 17 Reference 16 Reference 17 Reference
 R1 3

0.634

(0.144—2.798)

0.548 3

1.501

(0.290—7.773)

0.628 3

0.796

(0.165—3.836)

0.777
 R2 15

1.223

(0.572—2.617)

0.604 15

2.786

(0.992—7.831)

0.052 14

2.510

(1.040—6.059)

0.041
History asbestos exposure 69 51 68
 No 14 Reference 8 Reference 14 Reference
 Yes 55

0.988

(0.520—1.879)

0.972 43

1.391

(0.468—4.136)

0.553 54

1.590

(0.711—3.560)

0.259
Laterality 86 66 84
 Bilateral 3 Reference 0 Reference 3 Reference
 Left 30

1.144

(0.344—3.799)

0.827 22

0.687

(0.357—1.321)

0.260 30

2.367

(0.316—17.720)

0.402
 Right 53

1.424

(0.441—4.606)

0.555 44 51

3.539

(0.485—25.812)

0.213
Radiation therapy 85 65 83
 No 60 Reference 41 Reference 58 Reference
 Yes 25

0.682

(0.403—1.155)

0.155 24

0.761

(0.409—1.417)

0.389 25

0.805

(0.462—1.403)

0.444
HSPG2 86 66 84
 Low 43 Reference Reference 36 Reference Reference 43 Reference Reference
 High 43

2.447

(1.500—3.991)

 < 0.001

2.219

(1.347—3.656)

0.002 30

3.056

(1.597—5.849)

 < 0.001

3.056

(1.597—5.849)

 < 0.001 41

1.835

(1.068—3.150)

0.028

2.264

(1.279—4.010)

0.005

Table 4.

Multivariate COX analysis of OS of HSPG2 and KIRC

Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis
Characteristics Total(N) HR(95% CI) P value HR(95% CI) P value
Pathologic T stage 541
 T1 279 Reference Reference
 T2 71 1.488 (0.893—2.478) 0.127 0.102 (0.008—1.338) 0.082
 T3 180 3.321 (2.356—4.681)  < 0.001 0.468 (0.051—4.280) 0.501
 T4 11 10.631 (5.374—21.03)  < 0.001 0.758 (0.057—10.123) 0.834
Pathologic N stage 258
 N0 242 Reference Reference
 N1 16 3.422 (1.817—6.446)  < 0.001 0.368 (0.058—2.353) 0.291
Pathologic M stage 508
 M0 429 Reference Reference
 M1 79 4.401 (3.226—6.002)  < 0.001 1.729 (0.144—20.81) 0.666
Serum calcium 367
 Low 204 Reference Reference
 Normal 153 1.225 (0.865—1.735) 0.254 0.770 (0.437—1.357) 0.366
 Elevated 10 4.846 (2.404—9.769)  < 0.001 0.621 (0.163—2.367) 0.485
Pathologic stage 538
 Stage I 273 Reference Reference
 Stage II 59 1.183 (0.638—2.193) 0.594 7.364 (0.463—117.1) 0.157
 Stage III 123 2.649 (1.767—3.971)  < 0.001 3.263 (0.330—32.24) 0.311
 Stage IV 83 6.622 (4.535—9.670)  < 0.001 10.850 (0.378—311) 0.164
Gender 541
 Female 187 Reference
 Male 354 0.924 (0.679—1.257) 0.613
Age 541
< = 60 269 Reference Reference
> 60 272 1.791 (1.319—2.432)  < 0.001 1.735 (1.016—2.965) 0.044
Histologic grade 533
 G1 14 Reference Reference
 G2 236

7,606,603.7579

(0.000—Inf)

0.993 11,012,291.1484 (0.000—Inf) 0.995
 G3 207 14,061,844.0831 (0.000—Inf) 0.993 10,610,528.7864 (0.000—Inf) 0.995
 G4 76 38,352,819.2469 (0.000—Inf) 0.993 16,380,378.5492 (0.000—Inf) 0.995
Hemoglobin 461
 Low 264 Reference Reference
 Normal 192 0.430 (0.302—0.613)  < 0.001 0.693 (0.378—1.272) 0.236
 Elevated 5 2.663 (0.844—8.400) 0.095 2.234 (0.260—19.21) 0.464
Laterality 540
 Left 253 Reference Reference
 Right 287 0.707 (0.525—0.952) 0.022 1.287 (0.778—2.130) 0.326
HSPG2 541
 Low 270 Reference Reference
 High 271 0.447 (0.325—0.614)  < 0.001 0.545 (0.311—0.954) 0.034

Gene mutation analysis of HSPG2

We discussed HSPG2 genetic alterations in pan-cancer using the cBioPortal database. The highest frequency of genetic variation in HSPG2 was found in SKCM, mainly in the form of mutation. The second and third highest frequencies of HSPG2 occurred in UCEC and STAD, also mainly in the form of mutation (Fig. 4). These results indicate that HSPG2 is mutated in a variety of cancers and in a variety of ways.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

Gene mutation analysis of HSPG2

Relationship between HSPG2 and immunity

The results showed that the expression of HSPG2 was positively correlated with cancer-associated fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and hematopoietic stem cells of various tumors(including BLCA and MESO). Details are shown in Fig. 5a-c. These results suggest that the association between HSPG2 and cancer may be caused by influencing the degree of infiltration of various immune cells.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

Relationship between HSPG2 and Immunity. a Relationship between HSPG2 and cancer-associated fibroblasts; b relationship between HSPG2 and endothelial cells; c relationship between HSPG2 and hematopoietic stem cells

Relationship between HSPG2 and TMB, MSIs

We also performed a correlation analysis of HSPG2 expression with TMB and MSI, which were significantly correlated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) sensitivity. The results showed that HSPG2 was positively correlated with TMB in LGG and THYM, whereas it was negatively correlated with TMB in BLCA, BRCA, LIHX, LUAD and STAD (Fig. 6a). Furthermore, HSPG2 was positively correlated with MSI in CESC, COAD, KIRC, LUSC, TGCT, and UVM, while it was negatively correlated with MSI in BRCA, DLBC, STAD, and THCA (Fig. 6b). The results suggest that patients with different HSPG2 expression need personalized drug treatment strategies.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 6

Relationship between HSPG2 and TMB, MSI. a Relationship between HSPG2 and TMB; b relationship between HSPG2 and MSI

DNA methylation analysis of HSPG2

We examined the DNA methylation level of HSPG2 in various tumors using the UALCAN database, and the results showed that the methylation level of HSPG2 was higher than that of normal tissues in BLCA, BRCA, CESC, COAD, ESCA, HNSC, KIRC, KIRP, LUAD, LUSC, PRAD, READ, and THCA, which might be an explanation for the low expression of HSPG2 in these tumors. The methylation level of HSPG2 in LIHC, PCPG and TGCT was lower than that in normal tissues (Fig. 7a). In addition, HSPG2 had 58 methylation probes, such as cg00309945, cg21876283, cg10538929, cg06782041, cg24254377, cg16384073, cg06909773, cg13430401, cg11821759, cg21616627, cg24447680, cg02583234, cg11419235, cg02459271, cg11818031, cg25940827, cg17420036, cg13242624, cg26433593, cg04117379, cg14282182, cg11839036, cg18941458, cg12257830, cg18274749, cg22817258, cg18861547, cg10820203, cg02956660, cg13940218, cg02117102, cg27304144, cg18240311, cg20103919, cg04852275, cg00543840, cg03977084, cg07172756, cg18221576, cg24109161, cg13063658, cg04573706, cg12409547, cg25138553, cg00359395, cg24332002, cg13215285, cg06161657, cg07142131, cg04297819, cg13357518, cg02729506, cg15009352, cg15011041, cg24075852, cg14380609, cg12274479, cg01794853 (Fig. 7b).

Fig. 7.

Fig. 7

Relationship between HSPG2 and promoter methylation and related methylation probes. a Relationship between HSPG2 and promoter methylation; b Methylation probes for HSPG2. * represents P < 0.05, ** represents P < 0.01, and *** represents P < 0.001

Single-cell functional analysis of HSPG2

To further study the potential role of HSPG2 in tumors, we investigated the function of HSPG2 at the single-cell level using CancerSEA (Fig. 8a). The results showed that HSPG2 was negatively correlated with DNA repair, DNA damage and Apoptosis in UVM (Fig. 8b). HSPG2 expression was negatively correlated with DNA damage and invasion in OV (Fig. 8c).

Fig. 8.

Fig. 8

Single-cell functional analysis of HSPG2. a Single-cell functional analysis of HSPG2; b relationship between HSPG2 and UVM; c relationship between HSPG2 and OV. * represents P < 0.05, ** represents P < 0.01, and *** represents P < 0.001

Co-expressed genes and enrichment analysis of HSPG2

To further investigate the potential role of HSPG2 in tumorigenesis, we extracted 20 HSPG2-related genes from the GeneMANIA database for GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. Since only 20 co-expressed genes were obtained, we did not set additional screening criteria. The details are shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 9.

Fig. 9

Co-expressed genes and enrichment analysis of HSPG2. a Co-expressed genes of HSPG2; b-d GO enrichment analysis of co-expressed genes; e KEGG enrichment analysis of co-expressed genes

Biological process (BP) enrichment analysis showed that HSPG2-related genes were mainly involved in negative regulation of glycoprotein metabolic process, extracellular matrix organization, extracellular structure organization and salivary gland development. In cellular component (CC) enrichment analysis, we found that HSPG2-related genes were enriched in collagen-containing extracellular matrix, basement membrane, tertiary granule lumen and chylomicron components. Molecular function enrichment (MF) analysis revealed that the role of HSPG2 in tumor pathogenesis was associated with extracellular matrix structural constituent, heparin binding, glycosaminoglycan binding and sulfur compound binding, glycosaminoglycan binding and sulfur compound, etc. In addition, KEGG pathway analysis showed that HSPG2-related genes were involved in some pathways, such as salivary secretion, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and cholesterol metabolism.

Diagnostic efficacy of HSPG2 for BLCA and MESO and qPCR results and WB results

Since the mesothelioma control group is not included in TIMER and Xiantao Academic, in order to further analyze whether there are differences in the expression of HSPG2 in target diseases, especially between MESO and control group, GEO2R online analysis tool was used. The expression of HSPG2 in different disease states was analyzed by Benjamini & Hochberg method. The results showed that HSPG2 expression was different in MESO (adjusted P-value = 1.17e-4) and BLCA (adjusted P-value = 2.71e-5) compared with the control group. The rest details are shown in Fig. 10. The area under the curve (AUC) of HSPG2 for the diagnosis of BLCA and MESO were 0.650 (0.572–0.727) and 0.777 (0.683–0.872), respectively, and the results were shown in Figs. 10a and b. The qPCR results showed that the expression of HSPG2 was decreased in bladder cancer compared with human normal bladder cells (P = 0.040) (Fig. 10c), but HSPG2 expression was elevated in MESO (P < 0.001) (Fig. 10d). The results of WB also showed that HSPG2 protein was elevated in MESO (Fig. 10e).

Fig. 10.

Fig. 10

The diagnostic efficacy of HSPG2 on BLCA and MESO and the expression of HSPG2 in four cell lines, and the results of WB. a The diagnostic efficacy of HSPG2 on BLCA; b The diagnostic efficacy of HSPG2 on MESO; c HSPG2 expression in bladder cancer (SV-HUC-1) and normal uroepithelium (Ku-1919); d HSPG2 expression in mesothelioma (NCI-H2452) and normal mesothelial cells (MET-5A); e The results of WB

Discussion

We revealed the molecular features of HSPG2 in 33 tumors from the perspectives of gene expression, prognosis, immune infiltration, DNA methylation, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis using various databases such as TCGA, GTEx, UALCAN, and cBioportal to elucidate its roles in the development and potential regulatory pathways of different tumors.

Our study showed that HSPG2 expression was up-regulated in 11 tumors and down-regulated in 17 tumors compared with controls, but the results of THCA were opposite in the TIMER database and TIMER plus GTEx database. The expression of HSPG2 was correlated with the T stage, N stage, and M stage of many cancers, as well as with patients' age and gender. In addition, both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that high expression of HSPG2 had shorter OS, DSS and PFI in BLCA and MESO, but low expression of HSPG2 had shorter OS in KIRC.

A growing number of studies have demonstrated that immune cell infiltration is a key factor in tumor progression and immunotherapy [37]. The results showed that HSPG2 expression was positively correlated with cancer-associated fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and hematopoietic stem cells in various kinds of tumors. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a very heterogeneous cellular component of the tumor microenvironment characterized by a high degree of plasticity [38].

CAFs attract pro-tumoral myeloid cells (e.g., macrophages, granulocytes, dendritic cells (DCs), and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs)), while myeloid cells infiltrate tumors and promote the tumorigenesis by facilitating tumor cell invasion and metastasis, supporting angiogenesis, and suppressing adaptive immune responses [39]. Another mechanism by which CAFs influence tumor growth is the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines that act directly on tumor cells and induce cell proliferation, anti-cell death and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). Previous studies have shown that CAF respond to a variety of stimuli by secreting IL6, IL11 and LIF [4042], and that these cytokines are key mediators of inflammation-driven tumorigenesis [43]. Tumor endothelial cell metabolism can be reprogrammed (e.g. glucose metabolism, amino acid metabolism, ketone body oxidation, etc.), and targeting endothelial metabolic pathways can affect growth and pathological vascular sprouting [44]. In addition, extracellular vesicles derived from tumor endothelial cells contribute to tumor microenvironment remodeling [45].

DNA methylation is one of the most common epigenetic modifications and plays an important role in gene expression, genome stability and tumorigenesis. It has been shown that aberrant DNA methylation may accelerate tumor development by regulating cell proliferation, thereby inducing apoptosis or senescence [46]. We observed that HSPG2 promoter methylation levels were increased in BLCA, BRCA, CESC, COAD, ESCA, HNSC, KIRC, KIRP, LUAD, LUSC, PRAD, READ, and THCA, and decreased in LIHC, PCPG, and TGCT, compared to normal tissues using the UALCAN tool.

In addition, we found that KEGG was enriched in the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway by analyzing the co-expressed genes of HSPG2. The PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is the most commonly activated pathway in cancer and can promote cancer cell growth, survival, and especially metabolism [47]. CAFs can also regulate cancer progression by altering the activity of the PI3K/AKT pathway in cancer cells [48]. In addition to the previously described effects of endothelial cells on the tumor microenvironment, cancer cells can also promote endothelial cell tube formation and survival, at least in part, through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway [49].

Although previous studies have shown that HSPG2 is associated with the prognosis of a variety of tumors, the present study finally demonstrated that HSPG2 may be an independent prognostic marker for BLCA and MESO. In addition, qPCR results showed that HSPG2 expression was decreased in bladder cancer compared with human normal bladder cells, and HSPG2 was increased in normal mesothelial cells compared with mesotheliomas, which was consistent with the results obtained by using the TIMER database and the Xiantao online analysis website, thus increasing further the reliability of the conclusions of the present study. More importantly, the prognostic value of HSPG2 in MESO was proposed for the first time. All these indicate the necessity of further research on the relevant mechanisms.

Although the role of HSPG2 in pan-cancer was analyzed in this study, some limitations should not be ignored. Firstly, all analyses were based on bioinformatics analysis, and the expression of HSPG2 was only confirmed by qPCR in some tumors. Secondly, after considering the molecular weight of HSPG2 (460 Kd), our study did not investigate the molecular mechanism of HSPG2 in cancer. Further studies on the mechanism of HSPG2 expression in tumors are needed in the future. Thirdly, when analyzing the independent prognostic value of HSPG2, grouping according to the median amount of HSPG2 expression may result in a subset of otherwise differential results being negative.

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Material 1. (12.9MB, pptx)

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Clinical trial number

Not applicable.

Authors’ contributions

Conceptualization, Q.G. and C.F.; methodology, Q.G. and C.F.; software, C.F. and G.X.; investigation, C.F.; data curation, C.F. and G.X.; writing—original draft preparation, C.F. and G.X.; writing—review and editing, All authors; visualization, C.F.;supervision, Q.G.; project administration, Q.G.; funding acquisition, Q.G.. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by Key Clinical Projects of Peking University Third Hospital [Grant No. BYSYRCYJ2023001].

Data availability

The datasets used and /or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not Applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Footnotes

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Fangjun Chen and Xing Gu contributed equally to this work.

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary Material 1. (12.9MB, pptx)

Data Availability Statement

The datasets used and /or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.


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