Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common subtype of liver cancer, with a high morbidity and low survival rate. Rho GTPase activating protein 39 (ARHGAP39) is a crucial activating protein of Rho GTPases, a novel target in cancer therapy, and it was identified as a hub gene for gastric cancer. However, the expression and role of ARHGAP39 in hepatocellular carcinoma remain unclear. Accordingly, the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) data were used to analyze the expression and clinical value of ARHGAP39 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Further, the LinkedOmics tool suggested functional enrichment pathways for ARHGAP39. To investigate in depth the possible role of ARHGAP39 on immune infiltration, we analyzed the relationship between ARHGAP39 and chemokines in HCCLM3 cells. Finally, the GSCA website was used to explore drug resistance in patients with high ARHGAP39 expression. Studies have shown that ARHGAP39 is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and relevant to clinicopathological features. In addition, the overexpression of ARHGAP39 leads to a poor prognosis. Besides, co-expressed genes and enrichment analysis showed a correlation with the cell cycle. Notably, ARHGAP39 may worsen the survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients by increasing the level of immune infiltration through chemokines. Moreover, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification-related factors and drug sensitivity were also found to be associated with ARHGAP39. In brief, ARHGAP39 is a promising prognostic factor for hepatocellular carcinoma patients that is closely related to cell cycle, immune infiltration, m6A modification, and drug resistance.
Keywords: ARHGAP39; biomarker; hepatocellular carcinoma; immune infiltration; prognosis.