Pan-Cancer Analysis Reveals PRIM2 as a Potential Biomarker for Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Immunomodulatory

Abstract

Purpose: DNA primase subunit 2 (PRIM2) is a component of the DNA polymerase α-primase complex involved in DNA replication. Previous studies have implicated PRIM2 in cancer progression, but a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis is lacking. Here, we systematically analyzed PRIM2 across various cancer types to elucidate its potential role in cancer biology.

Methods: The expression data of PRIM2 was obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx) databases. A range of bioinformatics tools were employed to analyze the expression of PRIM2 with the correlation of clinical data, diagnosis, prognosis, subtypes, immunomodulatory, and drug sensitivity. Further validation experiments were performed in HT-29 and HepG2 cell lines.

Results: PRIM2 expression was elevated in most tumor tissues, indicating its potential diagnostic value. Elevated PRIM2 levels affected prognosis and survival and varied with clinical status. Mutations and methylation events drove the aberrant expression of PRIM2 in various cancers. Furthermore, PRIM2 was linked to key immunoregulatory genes such as PD-L1 and infiltration of Th2 cells in tumor tissues. Our findings suggested that PRIM2 is correlated to immunotherapy and may be sensitive to specific small molecule PLK1 inhibitors. Knocking down PRIM2 in HT-29 and HepG2 cell lines reduced their proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Conclusion: This research highlights the potential of PRIM2 as a biomarker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, and as a target for immunomodulatory therapy, offering valuable insights for clinical applications.