Background: ADAR is an enzyme involved in adenosine-inosine RNA editing. However, the role of ADAR in tumorigenesis, progression, and immunotherapy has not been fully elucidated.
Methods: The TCGA, GTEx and GEO databases were extensively utilized to explore the expression level of ADAR across cancers. Combined with the clinical information of patients, the risk profile of ADAR in various cancers was delineated. We identified pathways enriched in ADAR and their related genes and explored the association between ADAR expression and the cancer immune microenvironment score and response to immunotherapy. Finally, we specifically explored the potential value of ADAR in the treatment of the bladder cancer immune response and verified the critical role of ADAR in the development and progression of bladder cancer through experiments.
Results: ADAR is highly expressed in most cancers at both the RNA and protein level. ADAR is associated with the aggressiveness of some cancers, especially bladder cancer. In addition, ADAR is associated with immune-related genes, especially immune checkpoint genes, in the tumor immune microenvironment. Moreover, ADAR expression is positively correlated with tumor mutation burden and microsatellite instability in a variety of cancers, indicating that ADAR could be used as a biomarker of immunotherapy. Finally, we demonstrated that ADAR is a key pathogenic factor in bladder cancer. ADAR promoted proliferation and metastasis of bladder cancer cells.
Conclusion: ADAR regulates the tumor immune microenvironment and can be used as a biomarker of the tumor immunotherapy response, providing a novel strategy for the treatment of tumors, especially bladder cancer.
Keywords: ADAR; bladder cancer; cancer; immunotherapy; tumor immune microenvironment.