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- Academic Editor
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†These authors contributed equally.
Background: Bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) is a malignancy with a
high incidence worldwide. One-third of patients may experience aggressive
progression later on, and 70% of patients who have undergone surgical
intervention will still suffer from metastasis. Materials and Methods:
RNA sequencing profiles of BLCA samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome
Atlas (TCGA) database. Differential expression and univariate Cox regression
analyses were performed to identify prognosis-related differentially expressed
immune genes (DEIGs). Subsequently, a proportional hazards model of DEIGs was
then constructed by univariate regression analysis. Differential expression and
correlation analyses, CIBERSORT, Single Sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis
(ssGSEA), GSVA were conducted on transcription factors (TFs), immune
cells/pathways and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. The
regulation network was then constructed. Eventually, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq,
scRNA-seq, and multiple online databases were employed for further validation.
Results: A proportional hazards model of 31 DEIGs was constructed and
risk score was calculated and proven to be a independent prognostic factor. Then
5 immune genes were characterized to be significantly correlated with bone
metastasis, stage and TF expression simultaneously. 4 TFs were identified to be
significantly correlated with prognosis and RBP7 expression. 5 immune
cells/pathways were revealed to be significantly correlated with RBP7 expression.
Only 1 KEGG pathway was identified to be significant in Gene Set Enrichment
Analysis (GSEA) and Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA) analyses. The regulatory
relationship was then constructed, in which the correlation between EBF1 and RBP7
(R = 0.677, p