Detection of Immune Microenvironment Changes and Immune-Related Regulators in Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis Bone Metastasis

Abstract

The inflammation/immune response pathway is considered a key contributor to the development of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) bone metastasis. However, the dynamic changes in the immune microenvironment of LCH bone metastasis and critical regulators are still unclear. Expression profiling by arrays of GSE16395, GSE35340, and GSE122476 was applied to detect the immune microenvironment changes in the development of LCH bone metastasis. The single-cell high-throughput sequencing of GSE133704, involved in LCH bone lesions, was analyzed. The online database Metascape and gene set variation analysis (GSVA) algorithms were used to detect the gene function of Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of hub regulators was constructed by the STRING database. In these results, key immune cells, such as Tem cells, NK T cells, CD8(+) T cells, and Th1 cells, were identified in LCH bone metastasis. These genes, which include LAG3, TSPAN5, LPAR5, VEGFA, CXCL16, CD74, and MARCKS, may significantly correlate with the cellular infiltration of B cells, aDCs, pDCs, cytotoxic cells, T cells, CD8+ T cells, T helper cells, and Tcm cells. In conclusion, our study constructed an atlas of the immune microenvironment of LCH bone metastasis. Genes including LAG3, TSPAN5, LPAR5, VEGFA, CXCL16, CD74, and MARCKS may be involved in the development of LCH bone metastasis. The hub gene-immune cell interactive map may be a potential prognostic biomarker for the progression of LCH bone metastasis and synergetic targets for immunotherapy in LCH patients.