Decoding the Expressions, Immune Relevance, and Prognostic Values of Ferroptosis Gene TMEM189: A Pan-Cancer Analysis.

Background: TMEM189 is a recently discovered transmembrane protein involved in ether glycerophospholipid synthesis and ferroptosis regulation. However, its role in tumors are not well understood.

Objective: To elucidate the oncogenic effects and prognostic values of TMEM189 in tumors.

Methods: We performed a pan-cancer analysis of TMEM189 using various databases, bioinformatics and statistical tools, and tissue microarray analysis.

Results: TMEM189 is generally upregulated in tumors compared to normal tissues. High TMEM189 expression is linked to reduced promoter methylation. TMEM189 exhibits a negative correlation with immunogenic markers, immune cell infiltration, and expression of immune checkpoint genes (ICGs) in most cancers, implicating its immunosuppressive role in tumor microenvironments (TME). The interacting and similar genes with TMEM189 were involved in hotspot signaling pathways in pan-cancer. TMEM189 overexpression is usually associated with poor prognosis, especially an independent prognostic risk factor for BLCA, BRCA, LUAD, MESO, LIHC and SKCM.

Conclusion: TMEM189 is overexpressed and exerts immunosuppressive effects in many tumors with a significant association with poor prognosis, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic target in cancer treatment.