PD-L1 and Immune Infiltration of m6A RNA Methylation Regulators and Its miRNA Regulators in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the relationship between the expression of m 6 A RNA methylation regulators and prognosis in HCC.Methods We compared the expression of m 6 A methylation modulators and PD-L1 between HCC and normal in TCGA database. HCC samples were divided into two subtypes by consensus clustering of data from m 6 A RNA methylation regulators. The differences in PD-L1, immune infiltration, and prognosis between the two subtypes were further compared. The LASSO regression was used to build a risk score for m 6 A modulators. In addition, we identified miRNAs that regulate m 6 A regulators.Results We found that fourteen m 6 A regulatory genes were significantly differentially expressed between HCC and normal. HCC samples were divided into two clusters. Of these, there are higher PD-L1 expression and poorer overall survival (OS) in cluster 1. There was a significant difference in immune cell infiltration between cluster 1 and cluster 2. Through the LASSO model, we obtained 12 m 6 A methylation regulators to construct a prognostic risk score. Compared with patients with a high-risk score, patients with a low-risk score had upregulated PD-L1 expression and worse prognosis. There was a significant correlation between risk score and tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Finally, we found that miR-142 may be the important regulator for m 6 A RNA methylation in HCC.Conclusion Our results suggest that m 6 A RNA methylation modulators may affect the prognosis through PD-L1 and immune cell infiltration in HCC patients. In addition, the two clusters may be beneficial for prognostic stratification and improving immunotherapeutic efficacy.