B2M overexpression correlates with malignancy and immune signatures in human gliomas

Abstract

Because of the limited treatment strategy of gliomas, the key of diagnosis and treatment is finding new molecular biomarkers. Here, we explored the potential of β2-microglobulin (B2M) to serve as a hopeful candidate for immunotherapy or diagnostic biomarker in gliomas. The genomic profiles, clinical characteristics, and immune signatures were analyzed based on TCGA and CGGA databases. We carried out the whole statistical analyses using R project. High B2M expression correlated with worse prognosis. Somatic mutations of gliomas with high B2M expression are associated with PTEN deletion and EGFR amplification. Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations accounted for 82% in gliomas with low B2M expression. In addition, B2M positively correlated with ESTIMATE scores, interacted with infiltrating immune and stromal cell types. B2M also suppressed anti-tumor immunity through immune related processes. Meanwhile, B2M was associated with immune checkpoint molecules and inflammatory activities. Finally, functional annotation of the identified B2M related genes verified that B2M was a potential candidate for immunotherapy. We confirmed that B2M played a critical role in tumor progression, patient prognosis and immunotherapy of gliomas.